Jessica Chastain Used Physical Pain to Craft Other Mommy's Creepy Grin

Jessica Chastain explained on Jimmy Kimmel Live that she created Other Mommy's unsettling smile by imagining the strain of holding a heavy object while trying to appear safe. In the Universal horror film, she portrays both a mother and the entity haunting her family. Other Mommy opens October 9, and early reactions have been largely negative, with some viewers calling it more silly than frightening.

In Other Mommy, Chastain plays both a mother and the entity haunting her family. The Coraline-style premise adds to her horror credits, which include Mama, Crimson Peak, and IT Chapter 2. On Jimmy Kimmel Live, she said she built the entity's grin around the imagined effort of holding a person's skin, like carrying a heavy box too long.

That strain, she explained, created physical tension she felt in her body, visible in her neck, while she still tried to seem nice and not show her teeth. She demonstrated the smile and cried on cue. The film opens October 9, but early reactions have been largely negative, with some viewers finding it laughable rather than frightening.