--- description: For our 2013 Great Performances portfolio, TIME spoke with Jessica Chastain about her Oscar nomination as Best Actress for her role in Zero Dark Thirty. title: Great Performance: Jessica Chastain image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ab8599ff884ceba/69868ad9d0b6f26fee303d18/130218095987low.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Great Performance: Jessica Chastain (7 Feb 2013) by [TIME Photo Department](/author/time-photo-department/) ## TIME Photo Department Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 7, 2013 12:59 PM CUT  Jessica ChastainPerformance: Maya in Zero Dark Thirty (Oscar nomination, Best Actress) “Because we’re playing characters that really exist, it was important to show the utmost respect when portraying them,” says Chastain, who has never met the real-life inspiration for Maya, the CIA tracker who hunts bin Laden. Jessica ChastainPerformance: Maya in Zero Dark Thirty (Oscar nomination, Best Actress) “Because we’re playing characters that really exist, it was important to show the utmost respect when portraying them,” says Chastain, who has never met the real-life inspiration for Maya, the CIA tracker who hunts bin Laden.Paola Kudacki for TIME by [TIME Photo Department](/author/time-photo-department/) ## TIME Photo Department Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 7, 2013 12:59 PM CUT **Jessica Chastain** **Performance:** Maya in _Zero Dark Thirty_ (Oscar nomination, Best Actress) “Because we’re playing characters that really exist, it was important to show the utmost respect when portraying them,” says Chastain, who has never met the real-life inspiration for Maya, the CIA tracker who hunts bin Laden. The Performers Speak: --- [Amy Adams](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gWR "undefined") [Sally Field](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gWA "undefined") [John Hawkes](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gWH "undefined") [Quvenzhané Wallis](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gWC "undefined") [Anne Hathaway & Hugh Jackman](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gWP "undefined") [Christoph Waltz](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gWN "undefined") [John Goodman](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gWJ "undefined") [Naomi Watts](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gWF "undefined") [Jessica Chastain](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gWL "undefined") [**See a Compilation of Highlights from the 2013 Great Performers**](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gUQ "undefined") [**More Portraits of the 2013 Great Performers by Paola Kudacki**](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gSU "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3796526/great-performance-jessica-chastain-2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3796526/great-performance-jessica-chastain-2/"},"headline":"Great Performance: Jessica Chastain (7 Feb 2013)","datePublished":"2013-02-07T12:59:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-26T19:53:45.152Z","description":"For our 2013 Great Performances portfolio, TIME spoke with Jessica Chastain about her Oscar nomination as Best Actress for her role in Zero Dark Thirty.","url":"https://time.com/3796526/great-performance-jessica-chastain-2/","keywords":["Oscars","Jessica Chastain"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ab8599ff884ceba/69868ad9d0b6f26fee303d18/130218095987low.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Photo Department","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-photo-department/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ab8599ff884ceba/69868ad9d0b6f26fee303d18/130218095987low.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"00110_049_V2_CMYK.JPG","caption":"00110_049_V2_CMYK.JPG","creditText":"Paola Kudacki for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3796526/great-performance-jessica-chastain-2/","name":"Great Performance: Jessica Chastain (7 Feb 2013)"}}]}] ```