The Adorable Way Michael Shannon And Jessica Chastain Connected While Singing On George And Tammy
The upcoming Showtime miniseries "George & Tammy" tackles the award-winning musical partnership and tumultuous relationship between country singers George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Starring Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain, the six-part series — which premieres on December 4 — begins at the start of Jones and Wynette's love story in the 1960s, follows their rocky marriage in the '70s, and continues into the '90s after their divorce.
Both Shannon and Chastain did their own singing on "George & Tammy," which they each have past experience with (Shannon sings in an indie-rock band and Chastain sang as part of her Oscar-winning turn as Tammy Faye Bakker in "The Eyes of Tammy Faye"). Still, the pair found stepping into Jones and Wynette's legendary shoes "daunting." But there was one thing in particular that kept things light on the set when the pair had to duet together.
During a roundtable interview that included Looper, Shannon and Chastain revealed the adorable way they connected while singing on "George & Tammy."
The pair played patty-cake while rehearsing
The secret to Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain's singing success as Jones and Wynette in "George & Tammy" was playing the kids' hand-clapping game patty-cake while rehearsing.
"Ron Browning, our singing coach from Nashville, would have us play patty-cake with each other ... We'd sing the song and play patty-cake, and it would help us find the groove and also connect us," said Chastain.
Still, Chastain found it challenging to step into Wynette's shoes because she wasn't that familiar with the singer. "For me, the most daunting thing was singing 'Stand By Your Man,'" she said. "It was never my desire to ever sing that song. I didn't grow up listening to Tammy Wynette. I didn't really know the song. It would kind of be in the background somewhere and I'd know of it and the gender controversy, like, 'What does this song mean? What is she saying?' As I started to get to know her, I realized she actually lived a life very different than the song she sang."
As for Shannon, who played Elvis Presley in the 2016 film "Elvis & Nixon," it was all about learning a new technique. "People think, 'Oh, he's sung before.' But singing country music is very different from singing other kinds of music. Our teacher, Ron, showed us the country technique."
"George & Tammy" premieres on Showtime on December 4.