Jessica Chastain took a tumble while walking up the stage at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, prompting fans to compare her to Jennifer Lawrence.
A decade ago this year, Lawrence fell while walking up to accept her Best Actress Award for Silver Linings Playbook at the 85th Oscars.
On Sunday night (26 February), Chastain had a similar trip on her way to accept her award for Best Female Actor in a Television Movie or Series at the 2023 SAG Awards.
She fell forward while walking up the stairs and reached a hand out to the floor to balance herself, while Courtney B Vance and Paul Mescal rushed to her aid.
Mescal, who was already onstage, took Chastain’s hand to help her walk the rest of the way to the podium after Vance ensured she was safely back on her feet.
Speaking to Extra after the awards ceremony, Chastain, who wore a floor-length pink gown from Zuhair Murad, said: “I just needed to be airlifted, I couldn’t do it, my whole body was shaking.
“But I had Court and I had Paul Mescal, so I mean, a girl was in a good position.”
She also told People that she was “a little embarrassed” about the fall, but added: “I had two very handsome men helping me up, so that wasn’t so bad.”
Chastain won the award for her role as Tammy Wynette in Showtime’s George & Tammy, beating out the other nominees including Emily Blunt for The English, Julia Garner for Inventing Anna, Niecy Nash-Betts for Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, and Amanda Seyfried for The Dropout.
On social media, fans joked that her fall was a tribute to the 10th anniversary of Lawrence’s fall at the Oscars.
“Jessica Chastain honouring Jennifer Lawrence for the 10-year anniversary of her fall at the Oscars,” one person wrote.
Another said: “Ten years later, Jessica Chastain just pulled off a Jennifer Lawrence.”
A third said the moment marked the “Jennifer Lawrention of Jessica Chastain”.
After her clumsy moment, Chastain made a moving acceptance speech and recalled how she was inspired by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, who once spoke to her class in college.
She said he “encouraged us to keep going even when we felt like no one was watching us”.
“I’m telling this story now because it reminds me of how powerful our mind is and that we are what our thoughts created,” the Eyes of Tammy Faye star continued. “So I just wanna tell everyone who might be struggling at home, to all the actors that I get to meet: keep going. You’re one job away. I look forward to working with you. I’ll see you on set. I love you.”
