Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is still headed to the silver screen, but Jessica Chastain won’t be part of the adaptation.
The actor told E! News reporter Francesca Amiker that despite pleas from fans of Reid’s bestselling novel, there is “zero possibility” that she will board the Netflix project.
“But I love how excited the fans are,” Chastain said. “When I was working on Broadway, every single day, they’d be outside, when I was signing, with the books. I just love how wonderful that fan base is. I look forward to watching it and I’m sorry to disappoint everyone out there.”
Reid’s novel, published in 2017 by Atria, tells the story of a reporter who lands an interview with the reclusive Hollywood legend of the title. The book was a bestseller and has a loyal fan base; many readers have clamored for Chastain to play Celia St. James, an actor who co-stars with Hugo in a Little Women film adaptation.
Earlier this year, Chastain declined to sign a copy of the novel for a fan, saying, “I can’t sign that, just because I’m not doing it.” She later explained on Twitter (now called X), “I’ve been asked multiple times by fans, to sign books that I’m not attached to contractually. 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.”
The planned Evelyn Hugo film is being written by Liz Tigelaar (Little Fires Everywhere) and will be directed by Leslye Headland (Russian Doll).
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
