We already know Jessica Chastain is an on-screen and red-carpet chameleon (she was nominated for two Oscars and tops every Best Dressed list). And in a new interview she’s getting candid about her glamorous red carpet choices (including her all-time favorite dress) and also talks about her high school goth phase!

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Just like the wide-arrange of characters she plays, Chastain is always up for experimenting with her style. “For the past five years, I imagine my style has changed in terms of what I now flock to, but I still am the person who likes to take risks,” Chastain tells the Editorialist in their new digital issue. “When I see a show or a collection, I am really drawn to the artistry of the outfit. When I’m wearing something, I don’t think of it in terms of me wanting to be on the red carpet — for me it’s more about the dress that I’m wearing.”

One dress that still stands out in her mind as one of her favorite red carpet moments is the black and gold Alexander McQueen gown she wore to the 2012 Oscars (in the photo above). “It was magnificent. It was the dress of my life,” she shares. “That moment, it was the biggest dream I ever had, and here I was up for an Oscar, and I was wearing this dress that I felt was able to match the expanse of feelings I had.”

And the only thing that could be better than wearing McQueen to the Oscars is getting to keep it! (She’s commented that her storage closet is getting “very big”.) As for red carpet accessorizing, she’s no slouch when it comes to jewels — she’s a Piaget diamonds ambassador, which you could imagine, comes with the best perks.

During the London premiere for her film The Martian, she recalls the story of seeing a pair of earrings she liked and immediately went to her stylist (Elizabeth Stewart) to find an outfit to wear them with. “I tried them on and said, ‘Yep, I have to find a dress for them.’ That was a strange situation where I started with the jewelry and then found the dress. Usually, it’s the dress first.” (See the earrings and sequined Elie Saab couture gown in action below!)

WireImage; Sipa; WireImage

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Overall, she says her reaction to fashion is all emotion, not logistic. “Usually it’s about an emotion. It’s really hard to describe, it’s like describing a painting, you just know what it makes you feel,” she explains. “When I see a show or a collection, I am really drawn to the artistry of the outfit. I don’t think about it in terms of X + Y = Z or any logical way, I think of it more from an emotional place. It’s about how it makes me feel.”

But every now and then she pulls from her past. After starring in the recently released horror-drama film Crimson Peak she incorporated some inspiration from her younger days into her acting (and wardrobe, as evidence by her Instagram, below). “Perhaps doing Crimson Peak brought all of that love for the gothic aesthetic back,” she says.

“My friend and I used Dracula as our reference — the one with Gary Oldman; we were Winona Ryder and Sadie Frost,” she shares about her high school days. “She wore black lipstick and I wore a black-red lip color, like dried blood almost.”

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Dried blood aside, are you a fan of Chastain’s red carpet style? Which dress is your favorite? Share in the comments below!

–Colleen Kratofil