&34;I'm not there to be a politician,&34; says the Oscar winner, who is pursuing her master's degree in public administration at the university's John F. Kenned

"I'm not there to be a politician," says the Oscar winner, who is pursuing her master's degree in public administration at the university's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Jessica Chastain plans to use her degree from Harvard to 'fight politicians,' not become one

"I'm not there to be a politician," says the Oscar winner, who is pursuing her master's degree in public administration at the university's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

By Jessica Wang

Jessica Wang

Jessica Wang is a staff writer at . Her work has appeared in Bustle, NYLON, Cosmopolitan, and more.

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September 16, 2025 2:02 p.m. ET

Jessica Chastain. Credit:

LEONARDO MUNOZ/AFP via Getty

What, like it's hard?

Jessica Chastain opened up about her studies at Harvard University during her Monday appearance on *Late Night with Seth Meyers*, explaining her decision to return to school and sharing anecdotes about amusing encounters with classmates.

The Academy Award winner, 48, is currently pursuing a master's degree in public administration at the university's John F. Kennedy School of Government. "I love it," Chastain said. "There's people from all over the world in this program. There's a lot of future politicians."

She clarified that she is very much "not there to be a politician"; instead, "I'm there to fight politicians."**

"That's a very good thing to do," Meyers said in response.

Chastain also noted that she was the first person in her family to go to college. "For so much of my life I thought, you know, it's the cycle of your family," said Chastain, who graduated from the prestigious performing arts school Juilliard in 2003. "I thought I wasn't very smart and I didn't think school was for me. And I just love it."**

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The* Zero Dark Thirty* and *The Help *star maintained that her classmates didn't make "a big deal" out of the fact that they were studying alongside an Oscar winner when asked about that particular experience. "I mean the very first day there were some selfies and stuff," Chastain said. "It was sweet, but no one kind of said anything."**

Jessica Chastain.

Mike Coppola/Getty

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There was one "fun moment" during a quantitative methods class, though. "My partner — she's so sweet — she was from India. We were talking, and it was like the second week of school, and she said, 'I've been told you're an actress. I know you're a very important actress,'" Chastain recalled. "And she goes, 'Have you been in something I might have seen?' And I go, 'Well, do you like science fiction?' She said, 'Yes.' I was like, 'I was in a movie called *Interstellar*,' and she looked at me and she goes, 'That's my favorite movie.'"

"She's like, 'I didn't watch all of it, but it's my favorite,'" a cackling Meyers quipped in response, amused by her classmate's inability to recognize her from the film.

Chastain previously revealed that she had two semesters remaining to complete her program, joking of her post-graduation plans during a stop at Jimmy Fallon's late-night show earlier this month: "My goal is to take over the world."**

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