Jessica Chastain will play famed 1970s and 1980s U.S. televangelist in “In the Eyes of Tammy Faye”. Image: AFP/Angela Weiss
Jessica Chastain will play Tammy Faye Bakker, the glamorous wife of 1980s televangelist Jim Bakker, in a new movie “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”, according to Variety.
Based on the year 2000 documentary of the same name, the movie is about the couple’s fame, downfall and post-scandal lives.
Christian broadcaster Jim Bakker and his then-wife Tammy Faye built an empire out of “The PTL Club”, their flagship 1970s program.
The show was such a success that funds raised through its viewers even went far enough to create a religious theme park, Heritage USA, in addition to supporting the Bakkers’ luxurious lifestyles.
But as the 1980s went by and they accrued more money, Jim’s career came crashing down following an accusation of sexual assault, the discovery of a related hush money payoff and five years in jail for fraud.
PTL was handed to another televangelist Jerry Falwell to avoid acquisitions by rival Jimmy Swaggart (whose own sex scandal had not yet hit), but Falwell then condemned Bakker and blocked his return.
“The Eyes of Tammy Faye” will be directed by Michael Showalter of 2017 romcom “The Big Sick” and self-help comedies “Hello, My Name is Doris” and “You’re Whole.”
Andrew Garfield who last appeared in conspiracy theory crime drama “Under the Silver Lake” will be appearing opposite Chastain as Jim Bakker.
The role was filled by Kevin Spacey in 1990s partial biopic “Fall from Grace,” which co-starred Bernadette Peters as Tammy Faye. HM
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