Searchlight Pictures has released the first trailer for its upcoming biopic “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” detailing the rise and fall of televangelists Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker Messner, founders of the PTL network. Starring Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield, the movie, which releases September 17, follows the 2000 documentary of the same name.
The new trailer details the drastic transformation Chastain undergoes to portray the late Christian singer and television host, as well as how her perspective was sometimes at odds with the religious circles she found herself in. “Faith isn’t political,” she says during one lunch with church leaders. “Some people, they’re just hurting so bad and we just need to love them,” she adds in another scene. Chastain seems to not only capture Messner’s look but also her unique speaking and singing voice. Cherry Jones and Vincent D’Onofrio also star.
Messner passed away in 2007 at the age of 65 from an eleven-year battle with cancer.
“The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” directed by Michael Showalter (“The Big Sick”), will release September 17 from Searchlight Pictures. Watch the first trailer below:
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