The Eyes of Tammy Faye

In the 1970s and ‘80s, the televangelist Tammy Faye and her husband, Jim Bakker, both of humble origins, created the most famous religious broadcasting network in the world along with a Christian theme park. Idolised by audiences for her message of love, compassion and joy, Tammy Faye became a sort of legend thanks to her fake eyelashes, her way of singing, and her desire to embrace people of every social extraction. However, it would not be long before financial improprieties, scheming rivals and scandal topple the multi-million dollar empire the couple had so brilliantly constructed.

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT I knew about Tammy Faye from my teenage years, so I was really excited about the idea of making this film. I loved the script. It had a combination of many things I love: humour, drama, sex, criminality, and all sorts of controversy, so it was a great story, on top of its cinematic potential. I really fell in love with the characters and the totality of who they were: the good and the bad.
Jessica Chastain’s 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.
In the movie we actually recreate the Bakker’s final broadcast, where they say goodbye to their viewership. And we do it in two different ways: one is a very faithful recreation; Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield perfectly recreate their mannerisms and every single, tiny tick. But then we also have our cameras within that to create a different perspective, showing what is happening right before the on-screen moment and right after that happened.