Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield are two of the top talents to hit the big time over the last decade, and now the two Oscar nominees will be joining forces to star in the upcoming biopic THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE. The movie is set to be directed by THE BIG SICK and WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER’s Michael Showalter and will follow the lives of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker (Garfield and Chastain), the immensely popular televangelist duo who build a religious entertainment empire that would eventually crumble at their feet.
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Variety got the scoop that the actors would be partnering for the movie based on the documentary of the same name and directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, which chronicles the rise and fall of the husband and wife team. Across the 70s and 80s they rose to prominence in the televangelist community, building the largest religious broadcasting network in the world and even a theme park. In the end, sex scandals, financial shadiness and convictions on numerous counts of fraud against Jim brought the whole empire tumbling down.
The title refers to Tammy Faye’s legendary eyes and eyelashes which always stood out alongside her eccentric personality. It’s a great role for Chastain, who will also produce alongside producing partner Kelly Carmichael with their Freckle Films banner. Gigi Pritzker and Rachel Shane will also produce through MWM Studios, with Abe Sylvia having penned the script.
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This is a big year for Chastain, who is about to kick off a big summer with the release of DARK PHOENIX on June 7 and later IT: CHAPTER TWO at the start of September. Garfield has been taking it a little slower recently, coming off the indie movies BREATHE and UNDER THE SILVER LAKE, having just won a Tony award for this work on Broadway in the revival of ANGELS IN AMERICA. This is a big get for the two of them that will no doubt result in two fantastic performances, and those alone are reason enough to keep an eye out for this project whenever it hits.