Jessica Chastain for W Magazine

Posted on Apr 23, 2012 in Fashion

Darlings, here’s your pretty for the day: Jessica Chastain getting her Tilda on for W Mag:

Jessica Chastain featured in the latest issue of W magazine photographed by Paolo Roversi and styled by Edward Enninful in couture gowns.

Giambattista Valli Spring 2012 Couture Collection

Christian Dior Spring 2012 Couture Collection

Chanel Spring 2012 Couture Collection

Valentino Spring 2012 Couture Collection

Atelier Versace Spring 2012 Collection

Armani Privé Spring 2012 Collection

Jean Paul Gaultier Spring 2012 Collection

Christian Dior Spring 2012 Collection

We’ve said before that for such a beautiful woman, she’s not really all that photogenic, but maybe it’s because editors and stylists kept trying to shove her into the standard glam editorials most actresses find themselves in. She’s much better suited for weird, slightly off-putting styling and lighting like this. The planes of her face in that Chanel shot are amazing to look at.

[Photo Credit: Paolo Roversi for wmagazine.com, vogue.it]

Tags:

MK03

Why is everything out of focus?? WHY??
- DCSheehan
  
  It gave me motion sickness. Which I can’t imagine the designers would think was a good reaction to their clothes.
  - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3JSTXMWWVZN2QNP2UEKJMTWD7U Isabel
    
    I don’t think that the designers have a choice by the time it gets to a magazine. Who can verify this?
    - ballerinawithagun
      
      Designers don’t have a say, they just hand the clothes over and they are happy to be featured!
- Kate4queen
  
  Oh thank goodness I thought it was just me…
- kmk05
  
  Agreed! Seriously, it is just annoying It is such a beautiful editorial despite this camera silliness: we can only guess as to how awesome it would have been with proper camera work.
- BigWhiteGrannyPanties
  
  Drunk Photog. That’s why.
MilaXX

Agree about the Chanel shot m which is one of my favs. They even made the Versace look good on her and I hated that entire collection.
Sobaika Mirza

A glammed up Miss Havisham in the Valentino.
JDreesen

LOVE. and Love (with a capital L) the way they did her hair up in the last shot. Pretty, pretty little bird’s nest!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1313126032 Ajuna Ariel Fenty

This girl never looks good in editorials. She has the face, the jaw bone, the striking eyes and all the components to make a killer editorial but it never comes together. Never!! she always end up looking odd and out of place. It’s like she just seen a ghost in most of these pictures. Girl, bye!
- Sara__B
  
  Exactly!
Dani Colman

The photographer in me wants to cry – the fashionista in me wonders why no one did this with Jessica before. She has such strong angles to her face, she honestly looks a little odd when she grins right into the camera. But she can sell that ethereal, otherworldly shit like nobody’s business. I’m reminded a little of that editorial a while back with Saoirse Ronan; Saoirse’s also an odd kind of pretty, but the right kind of weird makes her look stunning.
- Robyn Morelli
  
  Right? I never realized before how strong her face was. She’s totally outdoing the models in every shot…
http://twitter.com/jaythenerdkid Aaminah Khan

I love the second one – the rest aren’t really doing anything for me.
- kimmeister
  
  The 2nd one is my favorite too. Reminds me a little bit of Christina Hendricks.
  - http://twitter.com/jaythenerdkid Aaminah Khan
    
    Now that you’ve said that, I can totally see it! Maybe that’s why it appealed to me.
schadenfreudelicious

Interesting, a little too much “Instagraming” of most of the photos for my liking however….
http://twitter.com/PhDKnitter marlie

She’s “striking” but not necessarily “pretty.” Does that make sense? So she fits better with these kinda weird, Tilda-y type shoots b/c they’re not about making her (just) look pretty.
- http://eclectictsunami.blogspot.com/ Cassie
  
  Totally agree. Her cheekbones are ridic in that Chanel shot, but she doesn’t necessarily look pretty, as such. Like Chloe Sevigny (or Swinton.)
kittenwithaquip

I see more Florence than Tilda, but maybe that’s me.
Pants_are_a_must

This is essentially the best she’s ever looked. Yes, even better than at the Oscars. YES, I SAID IT. COME AT ME.
- carpediva
  
  ‘Liked’ just for the use of “come at me”.
ccm800

I dont like the photo treatment at all. Should have saved some of the filtering from her face. I love that Armani Prive dress though.
j_anson

A lot of these outfits make her neck look oddly short, but overall, pretty!
http://phantomminuet.blogspot.com/ MinAgain

That first Dior shot is fabulous, and I love the green Armani dress and shoes. I don’t like the fuzziness of some of the other pictures.
loverungay

I think the styling is FABULOUS! I love that the clothes look better on her than the runway models.
holdmewhileimnaked

b e s t. full stop.

i’d love to know how they got the color into the orange wig, first dior. it’s an almost impossible color to get. i know, i’ve been trying for weeks to get something close if just a little blonder, a little more pink. lots of glory in that color.
- JasmineAM
  
  Manic Panic Electric Lava looks pretty close to it.
  - holdmewhileimnaked
    
    when you actually put the stuff on yr head [or my head, or whoever's head] it changes. i want something that looks kinda like strawberry blonde after the apocalypse.
    
    as an aside, i’ve been using manic panic since i was years too young to get a learner’s permit–from the time it was called crazy color & was, i believe, briefly banned for being imbued w/ one toxic or another. i only mention this, i think, cos today is one more of my birthdays that i would rather not have to experience. but i am again reminded of the old world & that i lived through a time of transition i would rather not have existed. it, myself, the transitions, i dont know, all of it. as i’ve said a millionbilliontrillionquadrillionzilliongoogolplex times, here & many other elsewheres, things have way improved sociologically–which is fabulous & wonderous–but, at the same time, we have a lost just about everything culturally. in the end this is an improvement, an absolute improvement for most of us, no question. but the loss is also staggering & it hasnt been yet felt. i do not know if it ever will be. it’s almost impossible to understand a different time through the filters created by people who live in a time, no matter how near, that cannot comprehend it.
    
    anyway.
    
    tired, here.
bellafigura1

I love her. This is a helluva shoot.
jilly_d

Gurl is working the shot out if that Versace. That Dior jacket needs to GET IN MY CLOSET PRONTO
kikisayshi

She looks better than the models in most of these photos. Love!
boweryboy

Never heard of her but she is giving fierce face.
Mexxoo

The orange dress looks mighty uncomfortable!
another_laura

I love the two Dior looks. They make me happy.
SewingSiren

She looks better than the runway model in every instance. Especial love for the orange, white , and greens.
guest2visits

Ah that Valentino…..my dream dress. As in; in-my-dreams.
Also; need someone to do a knock-off for that grey-gingham Dior. Lose the bustle.
quiltrx

Several looks here that I loved in the collections–especially the Diors–and they look great (and unexpectedly styled) here.

She really looks freaking FIERCE in that Valentino pic. Somebody cast her as a crazy lady in a spooky house!
TieDye64

She looks scared, and scary, in a few of these, but damn that Dior (the short black one) looks amazing.
Little_Olive

Nope, not enough to pull a Tilda in my book.

How hipster am I that I’m already tired of her.
Terence Ng

GORGEOUS.
Judy_S

I love this! I pretty much hate all the clothes but they make for great photos.
VicksieDo

Fierce as shit!! Awesome
Lina_bee

It is sort of weird how all the dresses but the JPG are in focus (at least in part) while her face is blurry in each shot. Sure, it’s a fashion editorial, but why get the big name actress to show the clothes if you aren’t going to put her face to best use? Strange decision, that.
understateddiva

I like the Armani Prive on her a LOT. I hope they let her borrow/have it for an event!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=506473106 Mori Clark

that one with the orange hair is flawless.
AWStevens

She looks more like Miss Havisham than Tilda in these photos…
http://howtofaint.tumblr.com/ How to Faint

The shot of her in Giambattista Valli is amazing. Truly. It reminds me of an unfinished pre-raphaelite painting.
Thathoodwink

The first thing I thought of when I saw the first picture was Sissy Spacek in Carrie. I don’t know what scene I’m thinking of…so then the rest of the photo shoot pretty much creeped me out.
- Thathoodwink
  
  I just got it…Piper Laurie in Carrie. The scene where she kills Carrie.
PastryGoddess

I actually like the out of focus artistic quality of the shots. And thank you W Mag for not making her “pretty”
kingderella

dont love every single shot, but like the overall feel of this. particularly like the giant orange hair, and the florence-welch-ness of the valentino.
http://twitter.com/foodycatAlicia foodycatAlicia

I would never have recognised her! I love this editorial. For an actress she’s a bloody good model.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_EDI2DLE7DE3YPW2ONIHBWOVHMA ecallaw

Wow, she looks amazing here.
http://twitter.com/herong Heron

Love the Dior HATE the Chanel. She’s WORKING that face.
bluefish

She’s so beautiful. Love the little green Armani Prive and the last Dior ballgown–gorgeous.
marilyn

It’s freakshow time!

The last dress had a little Traveler influence in the skirt. I don’t know if that is a good thing.
TSkot

“I know, let’s take a gorgeous young woman and see if we can make her look as hideous as possible!?!”
Warmheartedgirl Seattle

Gorgeous photos. Love the clothes, except that weird orangey mermaid one. Beautiful!
tsid2012

Very cool, I love it. Her face seems to channel several well known actresses in these shots. I think she has a Nicole Kidman vibe in the Versace and a Cate Blanchett look in Gaultier & Armani. And of course, Tilda…..
http://twitter.com/carelessriver Cassie L

Holy Hannah, YES. This is hers. This is what I’ve been waiting for out of her. Maybe she will take a huge red carpet hint, hm?
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001998855370 Fatima Siddique

My fave is the shot of her in the knee-length, black Dior. Phenomenal.
Renaissance_Man_ATL

FAB-U-LOUS!!! The styling and photography are amazing. The Chanel is To Die For!
Sophie Collier

Photos by Instagram!
http://profiles.google.com/phyllis.craine Phyllis Craine

She is just so old-fashioned gorgeous
lonepear

Very much like The Lady of Shalott in the Valli gown. I’m drooling over these artistic clothes I’ll never have reason to wear.
KathKo

I love that she’s not classically beautifull, that she has an edge to her look, so that editorial is working for her. Even out of focus, she looks fierce.

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Jessica Chastain for W Magazine

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