Jessica Chastain had no intention of getting married. But then she met the right man.
"I never wanted to get married," the star of "Molly's Game" told WSJ. Magazine in a new interview.
Meeting fashion executive (and member of an Italian noble family!) Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo changed all that. Perhaps not right away — when they started dating in 2012 she was clear about whatever future they might have.
"When I first met my husband, he knew that marriage wasn’t something I was interested in," said the 40-year-old actress.
But, she added, "Then as we got to know each other, the idea of marriage shifted for me."
The pair wed in June 2017 at the de Preposulo family's 17th-century estate north of Venice, a property that has been in the family since the 1800s.
Seven months later Chastain has no regrets. "I actually love being married," she said. "I never thought I would, but this is a spectacular human being, and I am celebrating that I get to share my life with him."
Perhaps some of her initial aversion to marriage came from not having a great example at home; as she noted in the article, she was raised by a single mother and doesn't know her biological father. She recalled a "turning point" when one of her mom's boyfriends was abusive toward her.
He slapped Chastain during an argument, she explained, and she "kicked him in the genitals."
"He never messed with me again," she said. "If you allow a bully to intimidate or victimize you, they’ll continue to do it. Bullies are actually weak; they don't go after strong people."
And now she's found the sort of love she never knew she really needed with de Preposulo. "There are some things worth celebrating," she said. "He's worth celebrating."
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