Jessica Chastain has responded to a viral TikTok video in which she declined to sign a fan’s copy of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.”
A fan-backed campaign has pushed to get Chastain to star as Celia St. James in an adaptation of the novel — penned by the same author whose “Daisy Jones & the Six” was adapted into the Prime Video series starring Riley Keough. Outside of her Broadway run of “A Doll’s House,” a fan approached her with the book asking for her signature, but she refused, saying, “I can’t sign that — just because I’m not doing it.”
“I’ve been asked multiple times by fans to sign books that I’m not attached to contractually,” she tweeted in response to the video Wednesday. “Because it feels wrong, and like I’m taking credit for someone else’s work, I’ll say I can’t sign because I’m not doing it. That doesn’t mean I’ve read a bad script.”
Netflix announced a year ago that Liz Tigelaar (“Little Fires Everywhere,” “Tiny Beautiful Things”) would write the film adaptation of Reid’s novel, with producers Liza Chasin for 3Dot productions and Brad Mendelsohn for Circle of Confusion. Reid and Margaret Chernin are set to executive produce.
“I know how excited many [of] you are about adaptations. Please don’t read too much into a video,” Chastain added in a second Tweet. “There is no news about anything. Except that I’m onstage until June 10th. Hope to see you.”
The Hollywood Reporter exclusively reported that Tigelaar is also attached to executive produce an adaptation of Reid’s “Malibu Rising” for Hulu. Reid’s “One True Loves” film adaptation, starring Simu Liu, Philippa Soo and Luke Bracey recently hit screens, and the rights to her most recent novel, “Carrie Soto Is Back” were won by Picturestart for adaptation. “Carrie Soto Is Back,” “Malibu Rising,” “Daisy Jones & the Six” and “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” are known as Reid’s “Big Four” books with characters that are connected.
The best-selling novel, in which main character and Hollywood starlet Evelyn Hugo confesses all of her secrets to an unknown journalist, was previously in development for a series at Freeform.
Chastain’s most recent projects include leading “A Doll’s House” on Broadway and “The Good Nurse” film on Netflix with Eddie Redmayne.
