Jessica Chastain Takes ‘Blood Bath’ in Behind-the-Scenes Throwback Video for ‘IT Chapter Two’

Jessica Chastain learned quickly on the set of IT Chapter Two that life in Hollywood isn’t always as glamorous as it seems. The actress, who plays adult Beverly Marsh in the film, shared a video to Instagram last week dousing herself in fake blood. She stepped into a kiddie pool full of the cold, sticky stuff, smearing it all over her clothes, arms, face and hair — even dumping a bucket of it over her head.

“Alright, this is the glamour of making movies,” she says in the behind-the-scenes clip, stepping into the pool.

“Oh my God, it’s so disgusting,” she says repeatedly. “Oh my God, I hate it. Oh my God, I hate it so much. It’s so cold. Oh God, it’s so cold. Oh God.”

Enya’s “Only Time” plays in the background as she pours the fake blood over her hair in slow motion. Absolutely covered in fake blood, which at this point has even crept into her eyes and mouth, she says, “How’s that?”

“That’s great, Jess, that looks great,” a crew member says from behind the camera.

“‘Be an actress’, they said. ‘It’ll be glamorous’, they said,” she captioned the video.

Fans couldn’t get enough of the clip, taking to the comments to react.

“Love this video,” Bella Thorne commented. “[You’re] amazing.”

“Hey Siri show me bravery,” wrote photographer Eric Ray Davidson.

“You are a pro!!!!!!” wrote model Carola Insolera.

“Thank you for doing that for the fans (and me). IT was a great sacrifice! Pain is beauty, I suppose,” someone else said.

“thank u for going through all this for us! I’m glad all your hard work payed (sic) off,” another wrote.

It’s possible that Chastain was preparing for a key scene in the film that features Beverly being tortured by Pennywise, locked in a bathroom stall that is slowly filling with blood. Chastain told Vanity Fair that a record-breaking 4,500 gallons of fake blood (made of a thickening agent called methylcellulose and red dye) were used in the film — much of it during that scene, which forced her to be submerged in it for many hours.

“It was really disgusting,” she said, laughing. “It’s like slime, and it was up my nose, in my ears, and stuck on my eyeballs. I kind of did have some little fears, but I was happy to do it.”

But the worst part was that she couldn’t even clean up after the scene was finished, as she had to remain bloody until the end of production.

“I admit that was the only miserable part. [Director Andy Muschietti] had me dressed in blood for the whole end of the film. Before every take, they had a small kiddie pool filled with the cold blood, and [they’d] pour it on me,” she said.

IT Chapter Two is still playing in theaters.

Photo credit: Matt Winkelmeyer / Staff / Getty