Jessica Chastain Recalls Taylor Swift Sending Her a Personalized Breakup Playlist the Morning After They First Met

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published 16 December 2023

It’s still the Week of Taylor Swift, for those who celebrate—she turned 34 on December 13. (Although, let’s be honest: what week isn’t the Week of Taylor Swift these days?) And to continually celebrate, yet another celebrity is speaking out about the kindness of Swift, who seemingly knows and has befriended what feels like every single boldfaced name in the entire world.

Today’s anecdote comes from actress Jessica Chastain, who shares a heartwarming story about the singer-songwriter that helps illuminate why she is TIME’s Person of the Year. Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night, Chastain recalled when Swift made her a personalized breakup playlist 12 years ago.

Chastain and Swift met at the Met Gala in 2011, and “It was, like, the first year I was invited to the Met Ball, the first year I had movies out, and we were both sitting next to each other,” Chastain told Fallon, per The Hollywood Reporter. “We were, like, next to Ryan Murphy, who was just starting to become successful with all his TV shows. And she was so sweet. I just went through a breakup, and I was talking to her about that. And, you know, we went and danced together. It was such a fun night.”

But then, the next morning. Chastain woke up to a special email in her inbox from Swift, which is one of the most thoughtful gestures we’ve heard lately. “The next day, I had an email from iTunes that said, like, Taylor Swift, whatever, and I just thought it was a Taylor Swift album,” Chastain said. “She had made me a breakup playlist that she sent me. Isn’t that the sweetest thing? … And here I thought it was, like, a Taylor Swift advertisement. And I was, like, wait a minute. She curated all these breakup songs to send me to help me get through my breakup.”

The two recently reunited when Chastain attended one of Swift’s Eras Tour stops in Mexico City this past August. Chastain posted a carousel of photos from the night on Instagram alongside the caption “Spamming u w really good @taylorswift Eras Tour content.”

“I was in Mexico City and she was touring there, and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to Taylor’s concert,’” Chastain said, per People.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.

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