The recent SAG Awards are considered a prime predictor for the upcoming Academy Awards on Feb. 24, and “Jessica can’t stand the fact that Jennifer is stealing her thunder!” said a source.
“What’s more, the critics have been gushing over Jennifer’s awards show speeches, and it’s been killing Jessica!”
ON JAN. 9, JENNIFER, 22, picked up a People’s Choice award for Favorite Actress and for Favorite On-screen Chemistry for her work with Liam Hemsworth and Chris Hutcherson in “The Hunger Games.” A few days later, both actresses won Golden Globes, Jennifer for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical and Jessica, 35, for Best Actress in a Drama.
But Jessica was confident her meaty role as a tenacious CIA agent chasing Osama bin Laden in “Zero Dark Thirty” would make her a shoo-in for TinselTown’s top honors, said the source.
“It was a real blow to her when Jennifer took the SAG award,” explained the insider. “Not only did Jessica think she deserved it, she thought she had it in the bag. She tried to put on a brave face for the cameras, but inside she was seething.”
Both actresses have previous Oscar nominations – Jessica for “The Help” last year and Jennifer for 2010’s dark drama “Winter’s Bone.”
Jessica’s films “Mama” and “Zero Dark Thirty” recently took the top two spots at the box office, but Jennifer one-upped her with the box-office blockbuster “The Hunger Games.”
And Jessica’s ire went into overdrive when her nemesis joked about her and some of the other female Oscar nominees during her recent “Saturday Night Live” guest gig.
Jennifer kidded: “Jessica Chastain – more like Jessica Chast-aint winning no Oscar on my watch. In ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ you caught Bin Laden. So what? In ‘Winter’s Bone,’ I caught a squirrel – and then I ate it. Boom. Deal with that!”
The source said: “Jessica felt Jennifer trivialized her acting role and didn’t see any humor in the bit. She can’t stand Jennifer all the more for it.”