Directed by Michael Showalter, The Eyes of Tammy Faye takes an intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, played by Jessica Chastain.
In the 1970s and 80s, Tammy Faye and her husband, Jim Bakker, played by Andrew Garfield, rose from humble beginnings to create the world’s largest religious broadcasting network and theme park. The public revered 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.
With these two powerhouse actors, we are going to see some fine acting, but we already know the storyline.
Jessica Chastain does meticulous preparation and research when developing characters, and becoming Tammy Faye was no different. She studied Tammy Faye Bakker for seven years, memorizing all of her mannerisms and vocal inflections from the hours of tape she watched.
Impressed, Michael Showalter says, “Her bar is very high, her level of dedication, perfectionism and preparedness. The level of the performance, the depths that she’s willing to go to. It’s amazing to work with an actor like that because they give so much.”
Building a character based on a well-known public figure is always a challenge, but Chastain’s biggest hurdle was overcoming how other people perceived Tammy Faye. “I spent years looking at footage of her and never once saw mascara running down her face,” said Chastain. “Tammy Faye was nothing like the caricature the media fed off of. She was the ordained minister Jim wasn’t. She preached acceptance and compassion and meant it, and that’s what we wanted people to see in this film. When everyone turned their backs on people with HIV and AIDS, she invited a high-profile gay pastor who had AIDS to be on her show. She also hosted Praise The Lord network shows all day long, wrote four books and released twenty-four albums. She never got paid for any of it. She gave her money back to the church.”
Chastain had been in close touch with Tammy Faye’s children before and during production. Tammy Faye’s daughter, Tammy Sue, and her two children traveled to set for the pivotal interview scene with HIV/AIDS activist Steve Pieters, played by actor Randy Havens, a gay minister who candidly spoke with Tammy about his illness, coming out and losing his partner. By the end of the shoot, family members were in tears, stunned and moved by the emotion the scene evoked. Bailey and Barbato also recognized the significance of her contribution to the LGBTQIA community, saying, “Homosexuality has often been demonized by the Christian community. At a time when people shrank from HIV and AIDS, Tammy was having none of it. She didn’t believe in labeling people. She understood the power of the camera to look into the eyes of people far and wide and share the truth.”
Playing a singer was another test for Chastain, whose previous musical experience only included college experience. Drawing inspiration from Tammy Faye, she dove right into an area outside of her comfort zone. “She was never embarrassed,” the actress added. “People were drawn to her because she was unique. She used her platform to advocate for a celebration of our differences and knowing that made it easier for me to perform.” It inspired Andrew Garfield in his role as Jim as well. “Tammy is so rooted into Jessica’s heart, and that’s an amazing place to come from. You follow her into the fray because of that; because she’s so passionate and devoted.”
– Tammy Faye Bakker
Chastain and Garfield connected before shooting and began sending each other articles and videos about the Bakkers, but their commitment to building the characters’ relationship didn’t stop there. “Once we got to Charlotte, North Carolina, we would go to church every Sunday at Heritage USA,” Chastain recalled. “It became a weekly thing. We saw people that we recognized from watching the documentaries who had worked with Jim and Tammy. They were generous in giving us their insight. It was an incredible and inspiring way to start the work week.”
Being from the UK, Garfield wasn’t initially familiar with Bakker’s story, so he had a fresh perspective on the couple. “I knew that Tammy Faye was an icon in the LGBTQ community, but I didn’t know anything else,” said Garfield. “It’s a very American story, even the evangelical movement is a very American movement.”
Spirituality had always captivated Garfield and how ego and money can bastardize nearly every spiritual movement. Jim initially met Tammy Faye at North Central Bible College after leaving behind a “sinful” life as a rock’n’roll-loving DJ and devoted himself to serving Christ. Later on, when he and Tammy Faye founded Praise The Lord (PTL), the world’s largest religious broadcasting network, their success and wealth twisted Jim’s perception of his own faith. While researching Jim’s decline, it struck Garfield how many preachers equated God’s love with material wealth instead of redemption in the afterlife.
“Jim’s actually a very complicated person,” says Garfield. “I found it easy to fall in love with him. What he and Tammy did was really radical. They created a wild alternative to other Christian broadcasting of the time. They had a longing to heal people. Instead of waiting for joy in heaven, they advocated for happiness in the here and now. His downfall was that he lost sight of all of that, and I found his fallibility fascinating.”
Showalter also recognized the importance of portraying Jim Bakker in a more nuanced way. “Andrew really found humanity to Jim Bakker and… really forced us all to see Jim, not just as a two-dimensional character… we could have gone down that path, and I’m so glad we didn’t. Andrew has created this incredibly complicated, deeply flawed but also compelling character in Jim.”
