1st look at Oscar-nommed Jessica Chastain in “The Zookeeper's Wife”

PanARMENIAN.Net - Focus Features has unleashed several stills of "The Zookeeper's Wife", offering the first look at Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain as the titular character, AceShowbiz said. Namely Antonina Zabinski, she is seen cuddling with two adorable lion cubs and having a stroll with zebras in the new images which were released via USA Today.

The Niki Caro-directed movie is based on Diana Ackerman's 2007 novel of the same name. Starring alongside Chastain is Johan Heldenbergh, who plays her husband Jan Zabinski. The pair's effort to save Jews in Poland during World War II will be explored in the upcoming movie.

Caro said of Chastain, "There wasn't a creature on that set, human or animal, that she couldn't mesmerize. It was a wonderful experience." The helmer went on to describe Heldenbergh as an old-style actor. "He's both extremely masculine and totally open emotionally," she said. "All women everywhere will fall in love with him, I promise."

Caro also talked about the movie, saying that it was "a wonderful story about not only animal nature vs. human nature but about radical compassion and humanity." She added, "The Zabinskis sheltered Jews at tremendous risk to themselves for a very simple reason: because it was the right thing to do."

"The Zookeeper's Wife" is the true account of keepers of the Warsaw Zoo, who helped save hundreds during the Nazi invasion. When the Nazi army overran Warsaw, destroying the city and its zoo, Jan and Antonina Zabinski began smuggling Jews into empty cages. The Zabinskis also took in around a dozen into their home.

Directed by Caro from a screenplay written by Angela Workman, the movie is set for a March 31, 2017 release in U.S. theaters. It also stars Daniel Bruhl as Nazi zoologist Lutz Heck.