“That was so punk-rock of [Tammy] in the evangelical world,” says Chastain.
“The media wasn’t really ready for how inclusive she was.”
JESSICA CHASTAIN: Oh wow.
Jessica Chastain in ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’.Searchlight Pictures
That’s amazing to hear because she was such a character, an amazing character.
But it was a big leap into the unknown for me, so that’s really good to hear.
You and I are the same age, and I’m wondering, were you always fascinated by her?
Searchlight Pictures
So it was like the beginning of like,TheReal World, with Christian evangelists.
There’s not one video of mascara running down her face.
She even says in her book, “I wear waterproof mascara.”
It feels like you almost knew that about her.
It started for me with the documentary.
I saw the documentary and then I took time to study her.
I read every book, I read about televangelism, I read everything I could get my hands on.
She was never tried in court for any crimes, she was never told she’d stolen any money.
She made like 20 albums she gave all the royalties for her music to the church.
I looked for a really seedy side that I thought was true and I just couldn’t find it.
I wanted to kind of right a misconception that the media really played heavily into.
The president of the United States [Ronald Reagan] wouldn’t even say AIDS.
He wouldn’t even acknowledge it.
you’re able to find the entire video on YouTube, her entire exchange with Steve Pieters.
That was so punk-rock of her in the evangelical world, it was astounding.
But I think also at the time, the media wasn’t really ready for how inclusive she was.
I think we’re more ready for it now.
Did you talk to people who knew her?
I started with all of her books.
I don’t want this to be in my life."
Jessica Hahn had nothing but positive things to say about Tammy.
So really, I did so much research.
Everyone who met her loved her.
Not certain people that were in different religious organizations, obviously, because there was a grasp for power.
But every person that I talked to that had met her loved her.
People in grocery stores and hair salons, they all loved her.
So I did all of that.
Hours and hours just listening to her voice and watching things that weren’t really out there.
I talked to her children, that was also very important.
Even things like, What perfume did she use?
Her daughter said to me at one point, “Tammy’s favorite colors were pink and leopard.”
We’d go to the service.
So it was kind of like immersive research.
We were very lucky
Is it harder to play a real person like Tammy than a fictional character?
This was much harder than anything else I’ve done.
The rules are basically in the script and then you add whatever ingredients you like.
That’s not how I thought you were going to end that sentence.
It’s not easy what we did, and Andrew too.
People could have said, “Jessica just made a fool out of herself.
She’s singing.”
Everything about this character took me so far out of my comfort zone.
It was a big leap, embarrassment was a possibility for sure.
Is that what keeps the work exciting for you, to push yourself into situations like that?
And then once we had a script we went to Searchlight and we made it.
But when we were about to shoot our pre-records, I was so scared.
I had never sung, and I am such a shy person.
Tammy was always at like a 12, and so the amount of putting myself out there….
I get shy when people sing me “Happy Birthday.”
It was a couple day before the pre-records and my deal wasn’t done with Searchlight.
And then David Greenbaum said, “You know what?
We’re doing the pre-records.
I know we’ll get to a good place with the deal.
Everything’s fine.”
I think he saw that I was trying to sabotage myself because I was scared.
Are you able to look back now and feel proud of the work you did?
You know what makes me feel proud of the work that I did?
It really makes me proud of the work for sure.
Is there anything we didn’t get to talk about that you’d like to?
I’m always in the corner at a party.
I said to Michael Showalter, maybe we could start the first day with a prayer.
So when I showed up on set, I led everyone in a prayer as Tammy Faye.
Before I did it, my whole body was like convulsing, I was shaking.
I’ve been scared for theater; I get very nervous in front of a live audience.
Usually now for film I don’t get nervous.
The thing is, it’s true.
And they did, in many cases.
But she changed people’s lives because she heard the voice and she pushed through it.
I had to have the same experience.
The Eyes of Tammy Fayeis in theaters Sept. 17.
Want more movie news?
