Chastain: Golden Globes is a glam substitute for prom

• Chastain is nominated for best actress in 'Zero Dark Thirty'

Who needs the prom when you have a VIP ticket to the Golden Globes?

That's what had Jessica Chastain laughing on Thursday morning talking about her Globes nomination for best actress in Zero Dark Thirty.

"I never got invited to my prom at my school, so I never had the opportunity to dress up when I was younger," Chastain confessed with a laugh. "Until the past couple of years. And now being able to go to the Golden Globes, it just means not only is it such a beautiful thing to be recognized for playing this incredible woman, Maya, now it's like, 'I get to wear pretty dresses again!'"

Last night, Chastain got home late after starring on Broadway in The Heiress, so she missed the announcements this morning. "I found out like 20 minutes ago," she said. "I'm really like, stunned. Because two years ago my movies hadn't really come out yet. So I feel this strangeness of, 'Oh my gosh, what's happened in the past two years?' It's very sweet."

This year, representing Kathyn Bigelow's Osama bin Laden film, Chastain concedes the attention does feel different. Chastain calls Zero Dark Thirty "the hardest thing I've ever done. Because (of) the responsibility of playing a real character, the responsibility of showing a historical event that's very current. And also it's very meaningful because lead female characters in movies usually are defined by the men. This is a woman who completely stands on her own. She's strong and capable and intelligent. She doesn't have any crazy issues. It's such an honor to play that representation of a woman."

Chastain will be balancing her Broadway duties with the awards shows in January and February – a stressful proposition, because, "I don't want to let anyone down," she says. "However, we have a really great group of people and (they are) so supportive. I'm stressed out about the possibility of missing a show, but I have an amazing, amazing understudy and I'm really proud of her for being able to make her Broadway debut, because she's incredibly talented."