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The global spotlight that her Academy Award shone might have felt unusual, but it was a moment of palpable pride for the actor, who says she is continuously asking herself: “What am I putting out into the world? Am I creating something that might be meaningful to others or, in terms of Tammy Faye [a biopic about the television evangelist who became known for her advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community], help someone to feel they are accepted and loved for who they are?”

Receiving the accolade – dressed in a dazzling custom-made Gucci gown that she’s sure Faye would have approved of – she delivered an impassioned, emotional speech about “difficult times that have been filled with a lot of trauma and isolation… So many people out there feel hopelessness and they feel alone.” What does she remember about the response? “Well…” she takes a pause. “It was a weird night.” Her speech was a standout, but headlines were dominated by another moment on stage, when Will Smith struck host Chris Rock before going on to win Best Actor. That’s not what we’re here to talk about, but it was still a fraught atmosphere when her name was called shortly afterwards. “I walked into a very charged energy in that room, and I was trying to figure out… how to just breathe and create a calmness.”

“People coming into the industry now have a different set of rules than 12 years ago… You know, in the past, I felt like, if I had an idea for a scene, I had to speak to the male actor I was working with – and then, if he liked it, he would bring it up with the director. I noticed if I brought things up to a director, it was like an immediate no, not even really having a conversation. [It was] a silly game that had to be played, which I don’t think is the case now.”

Of course, there is still some way to go, she emphasizes, acknowledging that “people are probably treating me different now because I’ve made a lot of movies.” A characteristically modest way of alluding to the status that being one of the industry’s most prominent names can bring.

Her own mindset around work has shifted, too. She happily admits to leaning on a team around her to help navigate the enormity of the job. “I know most people don’t talk about their publicists in interviews!” she laughs. “But I have to say that Nicole Perna has really been monumental for me… I have such a full personal life and I put so much into my work, you get to a certain point where you’re like, ‘I have a finite amount of time – how do I distribute the energy?’” For Chastain, this has meant surrounding herself with “wonderful people who help you create those boundaries – because then it frees you up for your life, which is a wonderful thing to be involved in”.

To immerse herself in that life, she escapes New York to her place in the country, where she loves waking up at sunrise, taking long walks, reading, watching wildlife and cooking. “I don’t have a lot of time [to cook] in all honesty, but I went to cooking school and I really enjoy it. And when I have more time in New York, I want to take some kind of class. I enjoy making a meal and the communal aspect of everyone coming together to eat it. I find that quite healing.”

Work and pleasure often interweave in Chastain’s world. Her latest release, The Forgiven, a thriller set in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, first came to her attention on “one of my favorite weekends I’ve ever had”, she says, describing an idyll creative getaway to Vienna with her husband, fashion executive Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo. The couple was invited to visit the house of one of her favorite filmmakers, Michael Haneke, and she grabbed a book at the airport – Lawrence Osborne’s heady 2012 novel, which follows the catastrophic shock waves after a fatal accident on the way to a grand house party. Chastain’s group spent the weekend discussing art and reading, with the actor captivated by the story’s atmosphere and complexity.

“I loved it so much that I tried to buy the rights, but they were already taken,” continues Chastain, who founded her own production company, Freckle Films, in 2016. The script then serendipitously landed on her table, “and I felt, ‘Oh, this is meant to be.’” Ralph Fiennes, who she had previously worked with on Coriolanus, reached out to say he was doing it. “I was like, you know what, I’d love to be in Morocco with all these great actors.” She wrapped filming days before the pandemic lockdown started in New York, arriving home just in time to be with her family.

It would be a cliché to say that storytelling is what Chastain was born to do, but it has certainly been a lifelong love. “Once I understood that acting was a job, it was clear to me that it was my job,” she says. “I was seven; my grandma took me to a play and she said, ‘These are professional actors; this is what they do.’ I was like, ‘Oh, this is me – easy.’”

This sense of ease for the craft has stayed with her. “I feel like I have the skill set for storytelling in this way, and so I’m not fighting against anything… Work is one of my happiest places.”

Now, she is as committed as ever to seeking out stories and projects that shift the dial. Earlier in the week, a draft leaked from the US Supreme Court has suggested an overturn of the Roe v Wade decision on legalized abortion. “I think we need to remind each other what history used to look like for women, because it does feel like that has been forgotten,” says Chastain, a public supporter of Planned Parenthood, of what is bringing her inspiration. “In some sense, we’ve taken for granted this idea, [of] being able to live a life free of violence and someone else making decisions about your welfare, your safety… This idea of reminding us what it is like when one group loses their rights – it’s a trickle-down effect. It affects everyone, and so I think the stories I start looking at will have to deal with that.”

When she wraps filming, Chastain is looking forward to a summer spent with her family – “going on vacation and reconnecting”. It’ll be a well-deserved pause to reflect on a hectic period. “I feel very grateful and really overwhelmed at times by the wonderful things in my life,” she considers, “so I’m always trying to remind myself to take a moment to just celebrate it all, because really, it’s extraordinary.”

The Forgiven is in cinemas from July 1 (US) and September 2 (UK). The Good Nurse is on Netflix in the fall

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