Inside a sunlit, truly massive suite at the St. Regis in Manhattan, there are sweet-smelling tuberose flowers everywhere. But the grandness is overshadowed by the redhead with porcelain skin on the couch, and maybe you’ve heard of her — Jessica Chastain. She starts slowly swinging a long thin leg and, holy cow, even her fidgeting is elegant. She’s here to talk about Ralph Lauren Woman, a new feminine scent of tuberose and sandalwood. And she has a way of speaking that’s warm, with the thoughtfulness of someone who’s never fired off a 2 A.M. Tweet. “My private life is so valuable, and I don’t want to sell it — it’s cheap,” says Chastain. It’s the first clue she’s not one to mince words. Just take a look at some of the things we chatted about in that gorgeous hotel room:

On Ralph Lauren Woman: “My grandmother wore a scent that was very soft, but also woodsy, which is what I like about this one. The softness of the tuberose kind of blends with the exoticness of the woods. I love that richness.”

On aging: “There’s a lot of criticism on how an actress is aging. Why do we do that with women? I work with a lot of men who take terrible care of themselves — they drink too much, or they eat too much. We need to allow women to age.”

On stereotypes: “I do know that people treat me different with blonde hair than they do with red hair. When I was [blonde] for The Help, I could tell men felt very drawn to [me]. With Miss Sloane, [a redhead,] men were more intimidated.”

On Trumpcare: “I grew up in a low-income family. I was raised by a single mother. My grandmother had a child when she was a teenager — she [was] taught abstinence, the least effective form of birth control. When you take away healthcare from women, you’re keeping women out of the workforce, because you’re eliminating their choice of when to start a family. I’m the first person in my family to go to college, and create a career for myself. Planned Parenthood is where I got my birth control pills.”

On her dirty secret: “I love all the Housewives reality shows. It’s so against all the movies I do! But I love it, and I find my characters from it, because it’s a heightened reality. Vanderpump Rules? Heaven. I used a lot of Teresa from The Real Housewives of New Jersey for A Most Violent Year. I need a character that’s Erika Jayne [from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills] — I’ll be in some movie, and you’ll see that. She just looks like a Barbie doll.”