Quick Links
Caution: Minor Spoilers For Scenes From A Marriage Ahead1973's Scenes From A Marriage, a mini-series directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson, was deemed extremely controversial for the time. The recent remake, written and directed by Hagai Levi, didn't receive such intense scrutiny.
It did, however, gain a lot of attention from fans of the stars of the show. Most of whom were confused about the true relationship between lead actors Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac.
While the pair seem to be nothing more than friends, their close relationship is the reason why Jessica chose to make the salacious series, to begin with.
Where You Can Watch Scenes From A Marriage
HBO Max subscribers will be able to watch Scenes From A Marriage for free on the streamer. Basic HBO Max plans are available for $10/month or $100/year, and ad-free packages are available for $15/month or $150/year.
How Jessica Chastain Was Cast In Scenes From A Marriage
In an interview with Vulture, Jessica Chastain went into the long history that she shares with her Scenes From A Marriage co-star, Oscar Isaac. It was this friendship that opened the door to her being cast in the hit HBO mini-series.
"It was January of 2020. And Oscar Isaac — who’s my friend of 20 years; we went to college together — emailed me and said, 'I just had a meeting. They’re doing an adaptation of Scenes From a Marriage. I really wanna do this with you. I’m not attached yet, but are you available?'" Jessica explained.
While her year was already "pretty booked" due to being in a play on the West End called "A Doll's House". While she reached out asking if the production would postpone until she was available, she never heard back.
"Then comes COVID. A Doll’s House gets postponed, and I’m suddenly very free. But by then they’d already cast [Michelle Williams]. In October, I got another email from Oscar that was like, 'Listen, as you recall, you were the first person I reached out to. The actress who was gonna do it fell out. Please, can I send you the scripts?' I read the scripts, and I loved them. We started secret rehearsals three days later."
Why Jessica Chastain Wanted To Make The New Version Of Scenes From A Marriage
There are a few notable differences between the two versions of Scenes From A Marriage. One being the reversal of the role the husband and wife play. This was one of the main reasons why Jessica wanted to make it.
"The reason I thought it could work is that it explores gender in a relationship in that time period; I love that ours explores gender in a relationship in 2020. Now the woman is the breadwinner. What does that mean when she comes home?" Jessica asked.
"In our situation, she doesn’t want to emasculate her husband, so she makes herself as small as she can be at home so he can be the king, which is why he talks so much and is, like, ruling the house. But if you have to make yourself smaller in a relationship, it will always come back to haunt you. You can’t disappear who you are."
What Did Jessica Chastain's Husband Think Of Scenes From A Marriage
A lot of fans felt bad for Jessica Chastain's husband, Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo after he watched Scenes From A Marriage. After all, his wife was getting awfully close and personal with someone he knew personally.
"My husband watched the new series with me — he needs to see it because it’s very intimate. And we’re all friends; Oscar’s family is friends with my family," Jessica admitted to Vulture. "But still, it’s an uncomfortable thing sometimes."
While her husband was a bit uncomfortable with what he saw on the screen, Jessica claimed that he sided more with Oscar's character than hers.
"Afterward, [my husband] was like, 'I feel mostly sad for Mira.' I was like, 'What?!' And he goes, 'Yeah, I just thought she made so many mistakes.' I was like, 'Wow, that’s a man’s perspective.' I wonder if men will say, 'You should have been nicer to Oscar Isaac.'"
Jessica Chastain And Oscar Isaac's Intimate Scenes In Scenes From A Marriage
The NSFW scenes in Scenes From A Marriage were so spicy that Oscar Isaac even trended on Twitter because of them. But filming the scenes wasn't nearly as fun for the actors as it was for the audience to watch.
"It’s a blessing and a curse," Jessica said of filming such scenes with someone she knew so well.
"The blessing is that, at the end, we were feeling each other’s thoughts. There was no wall between us. We joke he’s my work husband. I could tell immediately if someone said something and it bothered him. At the beginning, we read episode four and I got emotional from reading it. In public, you put on your persona; you don’t want to be a wreck. But I was deeply affected by the read. Oscar looked at me and goes, 'You okay, Jess?' And I was like [gasps]. He could see I was in a tough place where nobody else in the room could tell. That’s the curse part. Because I was like, Okay, I’m about to go on this journey with this scene partner who I can’t hide anything from. He’s like a microscope with me. It makes the work better but more terrifying because sometimes you want some space. You’re like, I don’t want you to be able to read my thoughts every moment."
We hope you enjoyed reading this article! TheThings has affiliate and sponsored partnerships, so we receive a share of revenue from some of the external resources presented here. This won’t affect the price you pay and helps us offer the best product recommendations.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErZ%2Bippeoe6S7zGiqnJ2emsBustGopGaZXaKus77Imp6eZZqawLS1wppknKCRqMGitc1mpqybkad6qr%2FAmppmqpWhrrW1zqeqoaGgZA%3D%3D