The long-awaited feature film had its world premiere on Sun., Sept. 12 at the Toronto International Film Festival (the event that tends to usher in the start of awards season every year) and buzz is already building that the 44-year-old actress’ portrayal of evangelist Tammy Faye Messner is an absolute must-see. Directed by Michael Showalter,The Eyes of Tammy Faye takes viewers back to the 1970s to witness the rise and eventual fall of Messner and then-husband Jim Bakker—the fascinating duo who, together, launched the world’s largest religious broadcasting network and theme park, Heritage USA. With Chastain co-starring alongsideAndrew Garfield as Jim, the film goes beyond appearances and dives deep into the lives of the married couple. In fact, humanizing Tammy Faye—who has historically been viewed as a caricature—was crucial to Chastain. “The fact that we vilified her for the makeup she wore and how she looked instead of listening to what she was saying about love, what she was saying about religion, about Christians, and about what Christianity is supposed to be about—how she was reaching across and really trying to love those who feel like they’ve been abandoned. It broke my heart that she was never acknowledged for that,” Chastain told ET Canada. The actress added, “She was just made into a joke. Even now when you mention Tammy Faye, people say, ‘Oh yeah, she’s singing and there’s mascara running down her face.’” As Chastain’s performance proves, there’s so much more to explore behind Tammy Faye’s fancied-up facade. Keep reading for everything you need to know about The Eyes of Tammy Faye, including how to watch.
Is there an Eyes of Tammy Faye trailer?
When The Eyes of Tammy Faye trailer first dropped in June 2021, it was viewers’ first look at Garfield and Chastain in their respective roles as Mr. and Mrs. Bakker—although you may not have believed what you were seeing, since the Oscar nominees are nearly unrecognizable underneath all the makeup and prosthetics. “I think for sure I’ve done some permanent damage to my skin on this," Chastain told The Los Angeles Timesabout her cosmetic transformation for the role. “When you’re wearing [makeup] all day every day—the weight of it on your body, it stretches your skin out. I finally took it off and I was like, ‘I look 50 years old!’” Despite the superficial transformation, Chastain adds that tapping into Faye’s emotions was the real key to her portrayal. “People think it’s easier, but it’s not. You have to reach through the makeup—you can’t let the makeup be the performance,” Chastain said. “She was so emotional, and I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to get emotional with all this stuff all over me. Am I going to be able to see people and feel free? I just had to get used to it. So much for me is, I have to trick my mind.”
What is The Eyes of Tammy Faye based on?
While The Eyes of Tammy Faye obviously draws from the Bakkers’ real lives, it’s also based on the 2000 documentary of the same name. Directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato and narrated by RuPaul, the doc grossed $1 million at the U.S. box office and received critical acclaim. In fact, it’s 23rd on the 50 Documentaries to See Before You Die list by Current TV and has a score of 86 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The documentary also won the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Documentary Film and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature. Despite some chatter at the time about making it into a feature-length film, Chastain didn’t acquire the rights to the story until nearly a decade later. “I got the rights to play [Tammy] in 2012 after Zero Dark Thirty came out,” Chastain told Variety. “I re-watched the documentary when it was on TV and I was like, ‘Why hasn’t anyone done a movie about her?’ So, I bought the rights for, I think it was like $5,000 [when] I didn’t have a production company or anything and then worked forever to try to get it to happen and now it’s happening.”
What was The Eyes of Tammy Faye documentary about?
Tammy Faye and husband Jim came from humble beginnings working on a Christian television puppet show together, but went on to create the world’s largest religious broadcasting network, the multi-million-dollar Praise the Lord (which also stood for People That Love and was abbreviated PTL), becoming two of the world’s most famous televangelists in the process. Tammy Faye was largely criticized for how she looked, which included sporting expressive, bright makeup and obviously fake lashes. She also took heat for her boisterous, silly demeanor—she was known for often singing on camera—even though to her mind, the way she chose to act and present herself simply stemmed from her desire to spread the word of Christianity. But there’s more to her story—and to the Eyes of Tammy Faye doc—than just her personality. Praise the Lord, however successful it once was, was rife with scandals, jealousy, and financial strife. In the 1980s, it folded, leaving not much behind save for a tarnished reputation.
Is The Eyes of Tammy Faye on Netflix?
The Eyes of Tammy Faye celebrated its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 12, 2021, and will debut in theaters on Fri., Sept. 17. Because the film is going the theatrical release route, it is not available for streaming on Netflix or any other platforms (at least not yet).
Who is in The Eyes of Tammy Faye cast?
Chastain and Garfield play the leading roles in the film, but The Eyes of Tammy Faye also stars Vincent D’Onofrio, Cherry Jones, Sam Jaeger, and Frederic Lehne. “I never had the chance to meet her, sadly,” Chastain told The Star of Tammy Faye. “But whenever I talk to someone who’s met her, it’s like the best stories. She just sounds like such a kick. I would have loved her.” When it came to casting Jim Bakker, Chastain told Variety that Garfield was a “get,” whose first take on Bakker’s accent and portrayal was so good, she admits, “it scared me a little bit.” Meanwhile, Garfield told Variety about his performance, “My only caveat was, ‘I’m not going to be a mustache-twirling villain.’ [Chastain] said, ‘Of course not. I want you to do this because you’ll make him a full person.’ We weren’t looking to make fun of anybody or do anything but tell an essential truth about their dynamic. The universality of their story and how we can all get lost and follow the wrong god. And how beautiful it is to be humbled.”
Where were The Eyes of Tammy Faye filmed?
According to The Charlotte Observer, The Eyes of Tammy Faye was filmed in Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s also been reported that additional scenes were filmed on the Barber-Scotia College campus in Concord, NC, and at Mount Pleasant Middle School, Pleasant Memories Ice Cream Shop, and the Carolina Country Inn in Mount Pleasant, NC.
Why did Tammy Faye divorce Jim?
In 1987, model-slash-actress Jessica Hahn, who was working as a church secretary at the time, accused Jim Bakker of rape. She also alleged that he tried to bribe her with $279,000 in exchange for her silence. That money, Hahn claimed, came from ministry funds that were donated to PTL in—literally—good faith. Perhaps surprisingly, Tammy Faye initially stood by Jim for several years after that scandal broke. Her tearful public defenses of her philandering husband are what many casual observers may remember about her most. But by 1992, when Jim was in prison serving time for fraud (see below), Messner was ready to end their marriage. In a letter to constituents at Orlandos’s New Covenant Church, she wrote, “For years I have been pretending that everything is all right, when in fact I hurt all the time… I cannot pretend anymore.” Tammy Faye was granted custody of their then 16-year-old son, James Clarke Bakker. Despite getting married in Minnesota in 1961, the divorce was filed and granted in Tallahassee, Florida, after Faye moved to the Sunshine State. At the time, attorney Jim Toms, who represented Faye in the divorce proceedings, said she “wanted the divorce because she could not bear the separation and the uncertainty of when her husband might be released,” according to The Los Angeles Times.
What happened to Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker?
Hahan’s sexual assault accusation opened the floodgates to PTL’s finances; it was soon discovered that mishandling ministry money was common practice and PTL, which was then investigated for fraud. It was found that the Bakkers took home $3.4 million in donations—money that was supposed to be given to help those living with AIDS or suffering from drug addiction. In 1989, Jim Bakker was found guilty on eight counts of mail fraud, 15 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy and was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison and fined $500,000. However, he only served five of his 45-year sentence before receiving parole in 1994. He went on to remarry another former televangelist, Lori Beth Graham, and together they adopted five children. Jim returned to television with his second wife on a new program on which he sold apocalypse-preparation tools. In 2020, he suffered a minor stroke, but survived. At 81 years old, he is still alive today and still married to Graham. Tammy Faye was never indicted for fraud and thus avoided prison entirely, although many observers of the Bakkers’ downfall were shocked that she emerged relatively unscathed. “That was the big talk: How could she have not known? She was wearing fur coats, she was wearing rings,” Suzanne Stevens, a former WSOC-TV anchor who covered the Bakkers, once told ABC News. In lieu of serving time, Tammy Faye filed to divorce Jim in 1992 and remarried real estate developer Roe Messner in 1993. Just three years later, her second husband was tried and convicted for bankruptcy fraud. After writing an autobiography called Tammy:Telling It My Way, she returned to TV—a brief talk show and a standout appearance in VH1’s reality show The Surreal Life. She died on July 20, 2007, at the age of 65 after an 11-year battle with cancer. Just two months before her death, she announced that she had stopped all cancer treatments. The long-defunct Heritage USA is mostly abandoned to this day though some of its structures have been repurposed.
Where and how to watch The Eyes of Tammy Faye
The Eyes of Tammy Faye will debut in theaters on Fri., Sept. 17, 2021. There’s no word so far on when it will be available on any streaming platforms. Next, 65 of the Best Movies Based on True Stories—Must-Watch Movies From History!
