Jessica Chastain On a Possible Oscar Nom First

Jessica Chastain is an Oscar nom favorite heading into Thursday morning's Academy Award nominations announcement, thanks to her critically acclaimed performance in Zero Dark Thirty, and it turns out she'll probably also set an Oscar first -- receiving the amazing honor while 30,000 feet up in the air!

Jessica will be flying Thursday morning during the announcement, but says she will resist the urge to use the plane's Wi-Fi to check on her nomination.

Video: Jessica Chastain Talks Top-Secret 'Zero Dark Thirty' Shoot

"I'm not gonna go online -- it would be too embarrassing to be online, looking at people looking over my shoulder," she jokes. "But I am probably going to be looking at the stewardesses and everyone, to see if they are extra nice to me or [if they] are giving me the sympathy look, like 'Awwww....'"

In her new horror flick Mama, Jessica plays a woman who gets way more than she bargained for by taking in her two young nieces who were left alone in the forest for five years. She tells ET at the film's New York screening that what makes the film so scary is the "powerful force" that a mother has.

"Well, when you think about the scariest animal in the animal kingdom, it's usually like a mama protecting her young cubs. Nobody wants to mess with a mama grizzly bear -- they're very dangerous," she explains. "There have been mothers known to lift cars off of their children. It's this powerful force that a mother has -- and when that is harnessed for good it's a wonderful thing, but when it's harnessed for bad, it's not so great and it's very scary."

Pics: Stars Without Makeup -- Jessica Chastain

Her co-star, Game of Thrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, had nothing but praise for his It-Girl co-star.

"She's brilliant," he gushes. "She's one of the best actresses around. It makes it so easy because you just react to what she does -- and you know, try not to drag her down to my level."

Check out the video to hear what scares Coster-Waldeau in real life, and how his young co-stars Megan Charpentier and Isabelle Nelisse feel about playing such scary characters.

Mama, produced by Guillermo del Toro of Pan's Labyrinth fame, hits theaters January 18.