Jessica Chastain (49) Brings the Terrifying ‘Other Mommy’ Face To Late-Night TV, and Fans Can’t Look Away
Jessica Chastain is no stranger to horror. More than a decade ago, she starred in Andy Muschietti’s ‘Mama’, playing the adult who stood between 2 young girls and a supernatural presence, and the film went on to earn more than $146 million worldwide.
Now the Oscar winner is back in the genre with a chilling twist. In Universal’s ‘Other Mommy’, which opens October 9, Chastain plays a dual role as Ursula, the mother of 8-year-old Bela, and Other Mommy, a sinister entity that looks exactly like her.
This week, the film’s most unsettling weapon got a moment in the late-night spotlight. During an appearance on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’, Chastain demonstrated the eerie Other Mommy smile, and a 35-second clip of the moment quickly went viral after a fan account shared it with the caption “I’M A TRAINED ACTOR.”
In the clip, Chastain slips into the character’s unnerving expression right there in the interview chair. As the fan post noted, she even appears to well up with tears while holding the face, showing just how much control the performance takes.
“I’M A TRAINED ACTOR” jessica chastain cries while doing the other mommy scary face 😈 https://t.co/izj4IG0JPu
— best of jessica chastain (@bestofchastains) October 8, 2026
Kimmel then gave the expression a try himself, though fans agreed he couldn’t quite match Chastain’s unsettling intensity. The video has since spread on social media. The story behind the expression has become part of the film’s lore.
At a Q&A on the Universal lot attended by CinemaBlend, Chastain explained that she tested the face in the makeup trailer when a five-year-old happened to be there. She made the face, the child immediately screamed, and she and director Rob Savage knew they had found Other Mommy.
Chastain has also described developing an unblinking smile as the key to the character. Universal has leaned into that idea in its marketing, releasing a behind-the-scenes featurette titled ‘A New Face of Fear’. The studio also unveiled an eerie crying billboard to promote the film.
jessica chastain stuns at jimmy kimmel live tonight! 🥰 https://t.co/fdGlmNHexs
— allie (@tinychastain) October 8, 2026
The film is Savage’s adaptation of Josh Malerman’s 2024 novel ‘Incidents Around the House’, from a screenplay by Nathan Elston. Savage previously directed ‘Host’ and ‘The Boogeyman’, and James Wan produces through Blumhouse-Atomic Monster.
Arabella Olivia Clark plays Bela, with Jay Duplass as her father. Dichen Lachman, Arian Moayed and Karen Allen round out the cast. The story centers on Bela’s growing relationship with the entity that wears her mother’s face. Because Chastain plays both roles, neither Bela nor the audience gets an easy way to tell which mother is real.
‘Other Mommy’ has been unsettling audiences for months. Its trailer played ahead of ‘The Odyssey’ in theaters and reportedly left moviegoers rattled, turning it into one of the internet’s latest horror obsessions.
The second trailer pushed the dual-role concept even further. Critics have noted that this time, Chastain isn’t simply protecting a child from something; she is also the something. Chastain, who trained at Juilliard, won the Academy Award for Best Actress for ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’.
She has also appeared in horror projects such as ‘It Chapter Two’ alongside her dramatic work. ‘Other Mommy’ gives her the chance to play the monster rather than the hero. Judging by the reaction to her late-night demonstration, audiences are already hooked.
Official trailer for ‘OTHER MOMMY’ starring Jessica Chastain. In theaters on October 9. https://t.co/NKDVGnSrrN
— Pop Base (@PopBase) July 21, 2026
Online, fans have called the clip both hilarious and genuinely creepy. Many said that seeing the face up close made them even more nervous about watching the film in theaters. With release just days away, the viral moment has given ‘Other Mommy’ one final boost of buzz. Fans will soon find out whether the full performance lives up to the face.
Did Jessica Chastain’s ‘Other Mommy’ face creep you out?
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