Actress Jessica Chastain has secret dreams of hitting the high notes in a musical after portraying a punk rock bassist in new horror film Mama.

The Zero Dark Thirty star learned to play the bass for her role in the spooky film and was upset when a performance scene was cut. But the lessons she took have encouraged her to follow her music dreams.

She says, "I took bass lessons for about a month and I learned this song. Then, a week before we shot it I heard that the song was changed. Then I learned that. We shoot it (performance) and the camera goes from one band member to the next and then finally to me and the whole song has been played and (director) Andy (Muschietti) goes 'Cut!' I'm like, 'Andy you showed me three seconds playing the bass and I spent five weeks learning how to play!'

"I really got into the music as Annabel and I was listening to a lot of punk music - Lou Reed, the Misfits. Now I really want to do a musical."

Chastain, who received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for Zero Dark Thirty on Thursday morning (10Jan13), is currently on Broadway in hit play The Heiress.