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Jessica Chastain has been transformed into infamous televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in our first look at the upcoming biopic The Eyes of Tammy Faye.
The biopic will follow the rise and fall of Tammy and her first husband, Jim Bakker (played by Andrew Garfield, who also appears in the new stills) – the couple grew their Christian news program, the PTL Club, into a multimillion dollar industry. That is, until it collapsed following accusations of sexual assault against Jim by a 21-year-old church secretary.
First look at Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield in ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’(via People) pic.twitter.com/Fml2A4ZZXtJune 2, 2021
Chastain reportedly did nearly 10 years of research for the role and she is also a producer on the movie. Her physical transformation into Tammy took almost as long, too – apparently, it took four hours each day to apply makeup, prosthetics, and wigs.
"I just was so blown away by her and her story," Chastain told People. "The thing I loved the most about Tammy is her capacity to love. She knew what it felt like to not feel important, and she didn't want anyone to experience that."
Chastain added: "People were always making her into a clown and punishing her for the mistakes of her husband, which all throughout history women have been the victim of, atoning for the sins of men." Tammy died in 2007.
The newly released images, courtesy of People, show Tammy and Jim at home, as well as appearing on TV – despite cheesy grins plastered on their faces for the cameras, there's a slightly uncanny edge to the photos which makes you wonder whether their marital bliss is everything it seems (although, of course, history tells us that it wasn't).
Chastain last starred in the action thriller Ava, alongside John Malkovich and Colin Farrell. As well as The Eyes of Tammy Faye, she has a number of other big-screen projects due to be released in the near future, like the action spy movie The 355 and the crime thriller The Good Nurse.
While we wait for The Eyes of Tammy Faye to arrive in theaters on September 17, check out our list of the best Netflix movies that you can stream right now.
