The Good Nurse: Jessica Chastain on playing the real-life nurse who helped catch her serial killer colleague Charles Cullen
Earlier this year, Jessica Chastain won an Oscar for her portrayal of the real-life TV preacher Tammy Faye – and soon she’ll be seen playing the singer Tammy Wynette in the series George & Tammy.
Chastain‘s current film The Good Nurse also sees her playing another real person – and though this one wasn’t famous, the movie will certainly show why she deserved a place in the history books.
The film tells the story of nurse Amy Loughren, a single mother with heart problems who works nights at a hospital. Following a series of suspicious deaths, she helps investigators build a case when their number one suspect turns out to be her good friend.
Eddie Redmayne plays Charles Cullen alongside Chastain’s Loughren
Chastain says it is important to her to shine a light on brilliant women, something she says she hasn’t seen enough of in her own life.
“I love women’s stories so much and so I get really inspired by the strength of women,” she told Sky News.
“I grew up when the history books never really talked about how incredibly dynamic and exciting and brave and heroic women are, and so it’s very exciting for me to be in a position where I can use my career to amplify those stories.
“Whenever I meet someone who has a very exciting story to tell, I want to be a part of that.”
Chastain says being able to speak to the real Amy helped her realise how courageous she was.
“All the things that she was juggling at the time – you know, being a single mother to two girls, not having health insurance, working on a night shift so you’re not really getting proper sleep, and also at the same time she needed a heart transplant.
“That’s what we walk in with at the beginning of this film and then realise, I mean, without giving any spoilers away, what she then stumbles into is quite shocking.”
The real Amy Loughren, left, and Chastain pictured at The Good Nurse premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Pic: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
It’s common for films based on real stories to ramp up the rough circumstances of the lead character to add to the drama.
But Loughren says when it came to her, things were actually even tougher than they look on screen.
“The thing that they don’t show in the film was that I was actually much more sick and I was terrified, truly terrified of leaving my two girls behind,” she told Sky News.
“And I was also directing a play at that time – I was directing my daughter’s sixth-grade play. I was exhausted and I still showed up.
“Watching Jessica play me, I allowed myself to feel proud of myself for showing up.”
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But seeing her story unfold on screen wasn’t all cathartic.
Loughren admits that Eddie Redmayne‘s performance as her old friend Charlie was hard to watch.
“It was triggering watching Charlie because Eddie truly embodies who my friend Charlie was and the way that he moves, the way that he speaks, the interactions that we have are so real,” she said.
“That part of it was extremely triggering and allowing myself to understand that I missed him for a while and my guilt about actually missing my friendship because he’s a monster.
“But I didn’t know the murderer, I only met the murderer a couple of times. He played this part of my friend and I missed that friendship.”
Read more: The true story of killer Charles Cullen and the colleague who brought him to justice
The film is one of Chastain’s first big dramatic roles since winning the Oscar for best actress in March.
She admits while she enjoyed seeing herself branded as “Oscar winner Jessica Chastain” in the trailer for The Good Nurse, it’s all still sinking in.
“I’m still really kind of in a state of shock, but I’m really happy at the same time,” she said. “Especially on a project that I worked so long and so hard on, to be acknowledged in that way it’s very meaningful.”
The Good Nurse is in UK cinemas and on Netflix now
Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.
Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.
Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick.
Tom Cruise said ‘I wish you well on the next journey’. Pic: AP
Val Kilmer in 2017. Pic: AP
His last part was a cameo role in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
Cruise, on stage at Caesars Palace on Thursday, said: “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.
“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.
“I wish you well on the next journey.”
The moment of silence followed a string of tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan.
Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia.
Tom Cruise at Caesars Palace on Thursday. Pic: AP
Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer discussed his illness and recovery in his 2020 memoir Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.
He underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the disease and also had a tracheostomy which damaged his vocal cords and permanently gave him a raspy speaking voice.
Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.
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He also starred in True Romance and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as well as playing criminal Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie Heat and Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone.
In 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on fantasy adventure Willow.
The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.
Bruce Springsteen is to release seven albums of mostly unheard material this summer.
The US singer said the songs, written and re-recorded between 1983 and 2018, were being made public after he began completing “everything I had in my vault” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a short video posted on Instagram, Springsteen said the albums were “records that were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released”.
The 83-song collection is being released in a box set called Tracks II: The Lost Albums and goes on sale on 27 June.
Some 74 of the tracks have never been heard before.
Springsteen first teased the release on Wednesday morning with a short social media video accompanied by text which said: “What was lost has been found”.
Tracks II is the follow-up to the star’s first Tracks volume, a four-CD collection of 66 unreleased songs, released in 1998.
Bruce Springsteen at New York’s Carnegie Hall at a tribute to Patti Smith last month. Pic: PA
The New Jersey-born rocker, nicknamed The Boss, last released a studio album in 2022.
Only the Strong Survive was a collection of covers, including songs by Motown and soul artists, such as the Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, Frankie Wilson and Jimmy Ruffin.
The late soul legend Sam Moore, who died in January and was a frequent Springsteen collaborator, sang on two of the tracks.
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Springsteen is coming to the UK in May to launch a two-month tour of Europe with his E Street Band.
The shows will include performances at the Co-op Live in Manchester and Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.
The singer-songwriter has sold more than 140 million records since his debut on the music scene in 1973, according to his website.
Entertainment
Stalker who believed Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas was his aunt avoids jail
A man who stalked Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas for six years has avoided jail.
Kyle Shaw, 37, got a 20-month suspended sentence and a lifetime restraining order on contacting Ballas, her mother, niece, and former partner.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that he thought Ballas was his aunt and “began a persistent campaign of contact”.
“He believed, and it’s evident from what he was told by his mother, that her late brother was his father,” said prosecutor Nicola Daley.
The court heard there was no evidence he was wrong, and “limited evidence” he was correct.
Ms Daley said Shaw’s messages had accused Ballas of being to blame for the death of her brother, who took his own life in 2003 aged 44.
He also set up social media accounts in his name.
Shaw had pleaded guilty to stalking the former dancer between August 2017 and November 2023 at a hearing in February.
Incidents included following Ballas’s 86-year-old mother, Audrey Rich, while she was shopping and telling her she was his grandmother.
The court heard in messages to Mrs Rich, Shaw had asked: “Where’s my dad?”
Ballas was so worried for her mother’s safety that she moved her from Merseyside to London.
Kyle Shaw outside court on the day of his sentencing. Pic: PA
In October 2020, Ballas called police after Shaw messaged her and said: “Do you want me to kill myself, Shirley?”
Posts on X included one alongside an image of her home address that warned: “You ruined my life, I’ll ruin yours and everyone’s around you.”
Another referenced a book signing and said: “I can’t wait to meet you for the first time Aunty Shirley. Hopefully I can get an autograph.”
The court was told Ballas’s niece Mary Assall, former partner Daniel Taylor and colleagues from Strictly Come Dancing and ITV’s Loose Women were also sent messages.
‘I know where you live’
On one occasion in late 2023, Shaw called Mr Taylor and told him he knew where the couple lived and described Ballas’s movements.
The court heard the 64-year-old TV star become wary of socialising and stopped using public transport.
Prosecutor Ms Daley said: “She described having sleepless nights worrying about herself and her family’s safety and being particularly distressed when suggestions were made to her that she and her mother were responsible for her brother taking his own life.”
Ballas has been head judge on Strictly Come Dancing since 2017. Pic: PA
Shaw cried and wiped away tears as he was sentenced on Tuesday.
The judge said the stalking stemmed from his mother telling him Ballas’s brother, David Rich, was his biological father.
“I’m satisfied that your motive for this offending was a desire to seek contact with people you genuinely believed were your family,” he said.
“Whether in fact there’s any truth in that belief is difficult, if not impossible, to determine.”
Shaw pictured at court in February. Pic: PA
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Defence lawyer John Weate said Shaw had been told the story by his mother “in his mid to late teens” and had suffered “complex mental health issues” since he was a child.
He added: “He now accepts that Miss Ballas and her family don’t wish to have any contact with him and, importantly, he volunteered the information that he has no intention of contacting them again.”
Shaw, of Whetstone Lane in Birkenhead, also admitted possessing cannabis and was ordered to undertake a rehab programme.
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