Why Jessica Chastain Felt 'Abject Terror' While Filming The Eyes Of Tammy Faye
There appears to be much more than just the crazy sacrifice Jessica Chastain made to play Tammy Faye Bakker in the biopic "The Eyes of Tammy Faye." The sacrifice, of course, is how Chastain endured an intensive makeup process throughout the making of the film to transform herself into the late iconic televangelist, which the actor believes may have caused permanent damage to her skin.
However, Chastain learned the physical preparation of playing Bakker was one thing, and getting into the mind of the wife and preaching partner of Pastor Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield) required a completely different mindset. In fact, Chastain told Gold Derby in 2022 that she only occasionally dared to "go for it" when playing the real-life TV personality.
"I never felt like, 'Oh yeah, I got this,' even right before we started shooting, even during we were shooting. I mean, there was one moment I felt comfortable when we were improvising and I was like, 'Oh wow.' I found my groove. But for the most part, I was in abject terror every day," Chastain told Gold Derby, laughing.
Cherry Jones, who played Tammy Faye Bakker's overbearing mother, Rachel, confirmed her co-star's fear, revealing that "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" scene that had Chastain trembling happened on the first day of filming.
Chastain says it was easier doing nudity than playing Bakker
In "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," Jessica Chastain plays Tammy Faye Bakker throughout the course of her adult life, from her courtship with Jim Bakker and the formation of their televangelist empire to the scandals the couple endured that derailed it. The film also chronicled the compassion Tammy Faye Bakker displayed in 1985 when she became the first televangelist to interview a gay man with AIDS, which was broadcast on the couple's PTL (Praise the Lord) Television Network. "I loved her, and her family and her kids," Chastain told Gold Derby. "I wanted to acknowledge her for the incredible things she did."
Wanting to do justice to Bakker's legacy, of course, contributed to the said "abject terror" she felt in wanting to breathe life into Bakker, the on-stage performer as well the person off-screen in real life. In the end, exposing Bakker's soul was harder than exposing herself, quite literally, in other roles, Chastain told Gold Derby.
"It's unlike anything I've ever done, and I just really felt in some sense, it's easier doing full nudity because there was something so exposing about this in terms of the voice and the silliness and the camp, but also the pathos," Chastain explained to the publication. "I just felt really exposed."
Chastain's performance as Bakker exposed so much of the televangelist's soul in "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" that it earned several industry accolades, including a SAG Award for best female actor in a leading role and an Oscar for best actress.