 A short part that Chastain had filmed opposite Ben Affleck in Terrence Mallik's To the Wonder (2012) was edited out of the final film, and due to scheduling conflicts, she dropped out of the action films Oblivion and Iron Man 3 (both 2013). She instead chose to make her Broadway debut in a revival of the 1947 play The Heiress, playing the role of Catherine Sloper, a naive young girl who transforms into a powerful woman. Chastain was initially reticent to accept the role fearing the high anxiety she had faced during her early stage performances. She ultimately agreed to the part after finding a connection to Sloper, saying: "she ’ s painfully uncomfortable and I used to be that". The production was staged at the Walter Kerr Theatre from November 2012 to February 2013. Brantley was disappointed with Chastain's performance, writing that "curiously for an expert film actress, she is guilty here of oversignaling the thoughts within. And her delivery of dialogue sometimes has a flatness that I associate with cold readings of scripts."
