(Newser)
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Oscar-nominated actress Jessica Chastain didn't attend her father's memorial service yesterday—but it's not because she's too busy, the Daily News reports. Chastain hasn't communicated with biological father Michael Monasterio in years and considers Michael Hastey, her stepdad, to be her true father. Chastain hasn't publicly discussed Monasterio, a rock musician who claimed on his Facebook page that Chastain's mother abandoned him and took their two young daughters.
But a Chastain source denies that: "Everything on his Facebook is incorrect," says the source. "[Jessica’s mother] never left Sacramento. He never paid child support. He chose not to have contact with Jessica and her family." Monasterio, only 20 when Chastain was born, later reunited with Chastain's sister, Juliet. But she killed herself in 2003. "I didn’t want to live anymore," he wrote on Facebook. "I always wanted a son and she was just like one." Monasterio died from bronchitis complications on Feb. 5, his family says. His sister-in-law calls it "a tragic story."
