Jessica Chastain wants you to know that she loves you, and that she is committed to making a change.
The 40-year-old actress took to Twitter on Thursday to share a tearful video in which she acknowledged the delicate state our country is currently in, especially since Hurricane Harvey has made landfall in Texas and has killed 46 people.
“I’m making a video because my heart is very heavy,” she said. “I’ve learned so much the past few days about the trauma many people are experiencing in our country. I’ve had the opportunity to listen, more than to speak, and it’s really hard for me to express my feelings, my thoughts, in 140 characters.”
She continued, “I wanted you guys to know that I hear you. I want you to know that I’m committed to creating transformative social change, that I’m committed to dismantling systems of oppression. I share in the sense of what is happening in the country. I hear you. You may never have met me, but I love you.”
It’s unclear what exactly caused Chastain to post this heartfelt video, but according to Entertainment Weekly, the actress received backlash for a tweet in which she expressed her preference for peaceful protests just prior to the release of her video.
Quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., she wrote “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence’ I’m here for changing the world through peaceful protests, calling my reps, and VOTING.”
It then sparked an exchange with a fan telling her to “listen to people without your privileges” when she said, “If the color of my skin is going to cause you to generalize, perhaps you [sic] look back over whether or not I’ve been silent to injustice.”
Watch the video below.
https://twitter.com/jes_chastain/status/903450050327654404