Golden Globe nominee Jessica Chastain will make her Broadway debut as the title character in the previously announced revival of Ruth and Augustus Goetz’s The Heiress. Directed by Moises Kaufman, the play is slated to open in fall 2012 at a theater to be announced.
Based on a Henry James’ novel, The Heiress tells the story of a plain young woman named Catherine Sloper, who turns the tables on the men in her life after she falls for a handsome young man whom her emotionally abusive father suspects is only after her money.
Chastain received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in The Help. Other film credits include The Tree of Life, The Debt and Take Shelter. She previously appeared off-Broadway in Othello and Rodney's Wife.
The Heiress debuted on Broadway in 1947 and has subsequently been revived on the Rialto three times, as well as made into a 1949 film starring Olivia de Havilland and Montgomery Clift. The most recent Broadway revival in 1995 starred Cherry Jones in a Tony-winning performance as Catherine and Philip Bosco as her father. The play also took home a Tony Award for Best Revival.