Jessica Chastain‘s transformation into televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker for a biopic, may have permanently ruined the Oscar-nominated star’s skin. She told the LA Times of her role in The Eyes of Tammy Faye: “I think for sure I've done some permanent damage to my skin on this. Listen, I eat very pure, and I take very good care of my skin and I stay out of the sun and all that stuff. But it's heavy. And when you're wearing it 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!' No, I'm kidding. But it's fine. It's for my art.”
The 44-year-old spent several hours in the makeup chair every day having heavy makeup, prosthetics and wigs applied to her skin. The film follows Tammy and her first husband Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield) as they rise to prominence, and then fall from grace during a sex scandal involving Jim and then-secretary Jessica Hahn.
She said that acting through all the props was a challenge. “You have to reach through the makeup — you can't let the makeup be the performance,” said Chastain. “Tammy 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.”
The Eyes of Tammy Faye is in theaters Sept. 17.