Jessica Chastain has opened up about why she continued to wear a face mask after restrictions were lifted amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
While most stars were eager to ditch their face masks at public events as soon as they were allowed to do so, Jessica was among the few that opted to keep masking up nonetheless.
The actress has opened up about why she chose to do so despite receiving some backlash for her decision, adding that it was never a "political statement".
Of course, just because restrictions have eased does not mean Covid no longer exists, and Jessica opted to continue to wear a mask out of respect to her fellow actors on A Doll's House on Broadway, as testing positive would mean a week out of the show.
She explained during The Hollywood Reporter’s annual Tony Nominees Roundtable: "We were testing every day on our show, and even if you had no symptoms if you tested positive for Covid, you were out for a week.
"And I was meeting people at the stage door who flew in from Shanghai and flew in from all over the world. To be out of the show for a week? It just felt like it was so irresponsible.
"So I was wearing the mask at the Oscars. I got quite a lot of flak for that. A lot of people thought I was making some political statement. I don’t know what they thought."
Singer Josh Groban added: "Theater people knew. We knew," to which Jessica responded: "Well, OK, good. I’ll tell you, the best thing is someone at the stage door gave me a mask that said, 'I’m On Broadway.'"
Jessica admitted she got mixed reactions about continuing to wear a mask, adding: "But yeah, the SAG Awards, the Oscars, a lot of people were like, 'What are you doing?!' I just couldn’t get sick. And I didn’t. I haven’t missed a show."
The Interstellar star, who'd occasionally take her mask off for red carpet photos before wearing it for the rest of the evening, definitely had the last laugh after the Golden Globes when she managed to avoid coming down with Covid.
Stars including Jamie Lee Curtis and Michelle Pfeiffer tested positive shortly after attending the prestigious event, but Jessica - who was masked up throughout in a bejewelled face mask to match her dress - did not contract the virus.
A fan shared a photo of her in her ensemble at the time, writing: "And you know who didn’t get Covid at the Golden Globes?", to which Jessica responded: "Phew!"
Just a reminder if anyone needs it - it's everyone's personal choice to continue to wear a mask if they choose to do so to protect themselves and others, and is never a cause to send backlash their way.