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Not every actor who puts on a wig to play a real-life person is unrecognizable. That said:┬аJessica Chastain┬аis┬аunrecognizable as disgraced televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in the first photos from тАЬThe Eyes of Tammy FayeтАЭ. Or, she is recognizable тАФ as Tammy Faye, somehow resurrected from the dead to star in her own biopic, because that is not Jessica Chastain.
The movie looks at the тАЬrise, fall and redemptionтАЭ of Tammy Faye, who with her husband, Jim (Andrew Garfield), created an entire religious empire in the тАЩ70s and тАЩ80s, while navigating the less-than-holy scandal and drama behind the scenes of their empire.┬аMichael Showalter (тАЬThe Big SickтАЭ) directs.
The first photos from тАЬThe Eyes of Tammy FayeтАЭ include a recreation of the BakkersтАЩ infamous 1987 тАЬNightlineтАЭ interview showing off ChastainтАЩs transformation in all its wigged, tanned and prosthetic-ed glory. (Garfield, meanwhile, sort of looks like Tom Hanks!)
тАЬI found a video of her singing a song, and she turned to the camera and said, тАШGod loves you just the way you are,’тАЭ┬аChastain wrote on social. тАЬWhatever God means to anyone. IтАЩve never been baptized. I didnтАЩt grow up within a church, but I do believe in unconditional love. We are all part of this world, part of humanity and part of grace. No matter where you come from, you are perfect, and you are fully and unconditionally loved. And thatтАЩs what I hope people leave the theatre knowing.тАЭ
The film will span multiple decades in the lives of the Bakkers, previewed in these photos that show the progression from тАЬOh yeah, thatтАЩs Jessica ChastainтАЭ to тАЬWHOMST?!тАЭ
тАЬThe Eyes of Tammy FayeтАЭ is in theatres on Sept. 17, 2021.
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