Presenting the Oscar for best actress at the 94th Academy Awards earlier this year, Anthony Hopkins described the nominees as actors “who’ve built their careers on some of the most memorable and most unexpected performances in movie after movie after movie.” No surprise, then, that the winner turned out to be Jessica Chastain, who took home the gold for The Eyes of Tammy Faye. 

With three Oscar nominations and seven Golden Globe nods (and one win for each), Chastain is a true Hollywood maverick. In her almost two decades on-screen, she’s played spies (The Debt, Ava, Zero Dark Thirty, The 355), troubled wives (Tree of Life, Scenes from a Marriage), real-life heroes (The Zookeeper’s Wife) and power-brokers (Miss Sloane, Molly’s Game). She’s gone to space (Interstellar, The Martian), ruled over a haunted mansion (Crimson Peak) and fought a murderous clown (It: Chapter 2). 

To her extensive on-screen résumé, she has now added a healthcare worker uncovering a sinister mystery with The Good Nurse. Based on a true story, Tobias Lindholm’s upcoming film stars Chastain as Amy Loughren, a nurse with a heart condition who starts suspecting her new colleague Charlie (Eddie Redmayne) of murder after a patient mysteriously dies. 

The Good Nurse is now streaming on Netflix, but that’s not the only way to get your Chastain fix. Scroll through to visit (or revisit) a few more of her stellar screen credits.

The Good Nurse

Chastain plays Amy Loughren, an ICU nurse and single mother struggling to make ends meet while concealing a serious heart condition. When she meets new colleague Charlie Cullen (Eddie Redmayne), the two quickly become friends and Amy starts to see him as a potential lifeline. But when a patient dies under suspicious circumstances, all signs point to Charlie as the culprit, and Amy risks it all to uncover the truth. Based on a true story, The Good Nurse  is directed by Tobias Lindholm and written by Krysty Wilson-Cairns.

The Good Nurse

2h 3m   R   2022

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Ava

This thriller, directed by Tate Taylor, stars Chastain as a covert ops assassin hired to take out high profile targets. But a botched operation soon finds Ava on the run from those she thought she could trust. John Malkovich, Common, Geena Davis and Colin Farrell round out the ensemble cast. Pair with The Gray Man for a spy games double feature. 

Ava

1h 33m   R   2020

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Molly's Game

High-stakes poker meets Hollywood in Aaron Sorkin’s Oscar-nominated biographical drama based on the life of Molly Bloom (played by Chastain), whose tables were filled with some of the world’s most A-list names. Chastain earned a Golden Globe nomination for best actress in a drama for her performance in the film, which tracks Bloom’s journey from former Olympic skier to multimillion-dollar underground poker mogul. 

Molly's Game

2h 20m   R   2017

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The Zookeeper's Wife

Based on a heroic true story, Niki Caro’s film stars Chastain as Antonina Żabińska who, along with her husband, saved hundreds of Polish Jews from the Nazis by hiding them in their condemned Warsaw zoo during World War II. Johan Heldenbergh, Daniel Brühl and Unorthodox star Shira Haas also star in this searing drama. Make sure to have tissues on hand. You’ll need them. 

The Zookeeper's Wife

2h 6m   PG-13   2017

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Crimson Peak

If you’ve never seen Guillermo del Toro’s gothic ghost story, you’re in for a treat. In a supporting role, Chastain plays Lucille, sister of a newlywed British baronet (Tom Hiddleston), who brings his new wife, Edith (Mia Wasikowska), to live in their ancestral mansion. It’s one of Chastain’s very best performances; she steals every scene she’s in with a scornful glance or a graceful sweep of her Edwardian skirt. And if you’re into the kind of romance currently unfolding in House of the Dragon... let’s just say there’s something here for you as well. 

Crimson Peak

1h 58m   R

Remind Me

Chastain’s gritty performance as CIA analyst Maya Harris in Kathryn Bigelow’s wartime thriller earned her an Oscar nomination for best actress, and 10 years later, it still stands out in her filmography. Written by Mark Boal, the film chronicles the nearly decade-long manhunt for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and the intelligence that eventually led to the 2011 Navy SEAL raid that killed him. Jason Clarke, Jennifer Ehle, Joel Edgerton, Kyle Chandler and Chris Pratt also star.