Jessica Chastain reveals why filming The Savant left her "more hopeful" about the future
"I'm always going to navigate from a place of hope because I do think that at our core, humanity and people are good."
From tackling terrorism in 2012 political thriller Zero Dark Thirty to being investigated by the FBI in 2017's Molly's Game, Academy Award-winning actor Jessica Chastain is no stranger to taking on challenging, real-life roles.
And in her latest project, Chastain tackles a completely different threat, one that feels increasingly prevalent in today's society: the rise of online hate and extremism.
The Savant is the latest eight-part thriller to drop on Apple TV+, and follows Jodi Goodwin (Chastain), a woman who becomes known as 'The Savant' for infiltrating online hate groups to stop acts of violence.
The show is based on the Cosmopolitan article Is It Possible to Stop a Mass Shooting Before It Happens?, with the character of Jodi inspired by the anonymous subject of the article – a woman named only as 'K'.
As with any politically relevant thriller, The Savant is undoubtedly an intense watch, but perhaps what makes the series so frightening is the fact that those Jodi infiltrates – the ones planning these hateful attacks – are far from the monsters you'd expect them to be: they're neighbours, doctors, even friends.
Despite working with such a dark subject matter, and even with the knowledge that there really are so many of these people out there, Chastain tries to hold on to hope.
When asked if filming The Savant made her more concerned or hopeful about the issues it raises, Chastain explained to RadioTimes.com: "I'm more hopeful, but I always choose to live from a place of hope.
"I mean, there's that Dolly Parton quote, I'm not gonna say the quote because I won't be able to do it perfect, but it's something about, like, 'The rainbow only shows up after the rain'. Something like that, you know?
"I hate that this show is relevant. I hate it. I hate that there are mass acts of violence. But maybe through this conversation and through unearthing this darkness in society, then we're gonna work together to fix it. We're gonna work together to protect our children, to create some legislations, to put some guardrails on the things that they're seeing.
"I'm always going to navigate from a place of hope because I do think that at our core, humanity and people are good. And the ones who aren't are the ones who make the loudest noise. But there's more power in goodness."
With a powerful performance from Chastain, who also acts as an executive producer on the show, The Savant also stars Nnamdi Asomugha, Pablo Schreiber, James Badge Dale, Cole Doman, Michael Mosley, Dagmara Domińczyk, Jordana Spiro, Trinity Lee Shirley and Toussaint Francois Battiste.
The Savant will premiere globally on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes on Friday 26th September, followed by new episodes every Friday – sign up to Apple TV+ now.
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Authors
Chezelle Bingham is a Sub-Editor for Radio Times. She previously worked on Disney magazines as a Writer, for 6 pre-school and primary titles. Alongside her prior work in writing, she possesses a BA in English Literature and Language.
