Heiress Tony Winner Cherry Jones ‘Can’t Wait’ to Pass the Torch to The Help’s Jessica Chastain

The announced revival of Ruth and Augustus Goetz’s The Heiress is eyeing a fall 2012 Broadway bow, and Tony winner Cherry Jones has given the upcoming production her stamp of approval. Jones, who portrayed Catherine Sloper in the 1995 revival of The Heiress and garnered a Tony Award for her performance, says she's “so excited” to see the new mounting starring The Help's Jessica Chastain.

“I saw The Tree of Life and I was so taken with [Jessica Chastain], Jones recently told Broadway.com. “It sounds like terrific casting.” Chastain will assume Jones’ famous role, a wealthy but awkward woman who falls head-over-heels for penniless bachelor Morris Townsend. Although Catherine is smitten, her father suspects that Morris is only after her money.

According to Jones, the best thing about sharing a role is getting to bond with her fellow actors. “Julie Harris came to see me in The Heiress and I found out weeks later that she actually played Catherine Sloper in a television version,” said Jones. “And I said, ‘Julie, why didn’t you tell me you played Catherine? And she said, ‘I had forgotten I had.’” Jones, however, has not forgotten, and will be sure to reach out to Broadway's newest heiress-to-be. “I can’t wait to see it!”