Jessica Chastain: Tom Cruise changed my career

Hollywood star Jessica Chastain has thanked Tom Cruise for changing the course of her career, after he helped her to secure a role in "Zero Dark Thirty".

The 40-year-old flame-haired actress has revealed she owes her role in the political action-thriller to Cruise, who used his considerable influence to help Chastain star in the hit movie about the real-life search for Osama bin Laden, rather than his own film "Oblivion", reported Contactmusic.

"I got cold-called by (director) Kathryn Bigelow. I was in Toronto, and I had heard from (producer) Megan Ellison. We had done a film, 'Lawless', together," she says.

"And she said, 'By the way, do you know Kathryn Bigelow's trying to get a hold of you? She wants to meet with you on something.' And I was like, 'What? Please give her my number'.

"I was signed to do another movie (at the time). I was contractually obligated to do something else that I was really wanting to do, and I was excited to do. But when this came my way, I realised I had to do this."