Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield are almost unrecognizable in the first look at The Eyes of Tammy Faye. The Zero Dark Thirty star is playing the famed televangelist in an upcoming biopic and Searchlight Pictures has revealed first look images of Chastain and Garfield as Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker.
The movie was inspired by the documentary of the same name that showed the rise of the Bakker’s to fame on their Christian television network and the ultimate downfall due to a sex scandal. Talking with People Magazine, Chastain pointed out how much of her understanding of Bakker prior to this was steeped in what we know through pop culture and not the true story.
Chastain’s transformation into Bakker took her four hours every day, but the transformation is uncanny. Along with the pictures, People Magazine spoke with Chastain about Bakker as a figure in our cultural zeitgeist and the history there.
"I just was so blown away by her and her story. 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 told People. But Chastain went on, talking about her former understanding of Bakker and what she’d learned about her in her ten years of research into the woman. “Here's a woman that I had an idea of because of what I was fed about her. Even the thing about the mascara running down her face. There is not one picture of her with mascara running down her face in reality." Chastain continued, "But 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."
The Eyes of Tammy Faye looks to be an interesting look into the televangelist and how the public viewed her. The film hits theaters on September 17. Check out more of the images from The Eyes of Tammy Faye below.
Here's the official synopsis for The Eyes of Tammy Faye:
THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE is an intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker. In the 1970s and 80s, Tammy Faye and her husband, Jim Bakker, rose from humble beginnings to create the world’s largest religious broadcasting network and theme park, and were revered for their message of love, acceptance and prosperity. Tammy Faye was legendary for her indelible eyelashes, her idiosyncratic singing, and her eagerness to embrace people from all walks of life. However, it wasn’t long before financial improprieties, scheming rivals, and scandal toppled their carefully constructed empire.