Jessica Chastain has previously compared her new movie ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ and the hit Showtime drama ‘Homeland’ by saying they’re apples and oranges. 
Kathryn Bigelow and Jessica Chastain with the rest of the Zero Dark Thirty cast at the premiere
However, in a new interview with MTV, she seems to be hitting out at Homeland’s portrayal of their lead character, also a CIA agent, by saying, “Making this film [Zero Dark Thirty] with Kathryn Bigelow, I think it represents this generation of women that we really don't see. I'm excited to see a character that Hollywood doesn't change and say, 'Yes, she's the hero, but she has to take medication also. She's also a mess.” She also adds that despite this, she does love Homeland and Claire Danes. She says, “I love that show. I love Claire Danes. I think they're apples and oranges because that's a fictional character, and this is a real woman, and we had the utmost respect when portraying her."
This may be reading too much into it, but what Chastain seems to be saying is that Homeland took more liberties when creating its characters and stories. Thus, as they were not based on real characters, they could play with the boundaries of realities more.
Claire Danes at the second season premiere of Homeland
‘Zero Dark Thirty’ goes into wide release on January 11th, a day after the Oscar nominations are announced.
Jessica Chastain talks Claire Danes comparisons
