Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesJessica Chastain is facing backlash after using her celebrity platform to issue a public plea for the ''need to build the strength of diversity'' in Hollywood.
The 37-year-old two-time Oscar nominee made her comments at the 2015 Critics' Choice Awards earlier this month when she accepted the inaugural Most Valuable Player honor. Upon taking the stage, the redheaded beauty graciously thanked her co-workers and members of her own team before she noted that the ceremony happened to be taking place on what would have been Martin Luther King Jr.'s 86th birthday.
"Today is Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, so it got me thinking about our need to build the strength of diversity in our industry, and to stand together against homophobic, sexist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic and racist agendas," she said. "I'm an optimist and I can't help but feel hopeful about the future of film, especially looking at all of the beautiful people in this room."
"Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter,'" she continued before concluding, "And I would like to encourage everyone in this room to please speak up. Thank you."
While her remarks were well received by many, the Help stunner has since admitted that she was stunned by some of the reactions to her speech calling the criticism "strange."
"I've had really terrible people who are racists comment on the speech and say really terrible things," she said in a recent interview, per CBS News. "I'm understanding that some people in this world, how much hate they can have."
Although some drew a link between her speech and the 2015 Oscar nominations, which were criticized for the lack of diversity, Chastain said that wasn't her intention and insisted that she was trying to draw attention to a much bigger issue.
"Some people had taken my speech and then made it about awards, like SAG Awards or Oscars. That's not what my speech was about," she explained. "To me awards are just a reflection. It's just a symptom of the disease and the disease is in the industry. If we had more diversity in our films it would be reflected in diversity in the nominees."
Despite the backlash, Chastain plans to speak out in the future and accepts that, as a member of the industry, she is "part of the problem."
"We all need to work together to fix it," the A Most Violent Year star said.