FILM
Q&A with Actress Cherry Jones
Theater star discusses role in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”
BY GARY M. KRAMER
Cherry Jones is well
known as a theater actress,
but whenever she
appears on fi lm, she
steals her every scene. In the new
dramatic version of “The Eyes of
Tammy Faye” — based on gay fi lmmakers
Fenton Bailey and Randy
Barbato’s documentary — Jones
plays Rachel, the title character’s
no-nonsense mother. When
Tammy Faye (Jessica Chastain)
brings Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfi
eld) home introducing him as her
husband, Rachel sizes him up and
does not like what she sees. Rachel
tries to provide her daughter with
a voice of reason, However, hubris
and greed, among other sins, get
the best of the couple.
Jones plays Rachel as sour and
dour, but she is the character viewers
will connect with the most.
Tammy Faye is good-hearted, a
bit dramatic, and chirpy, while
her husband Jim is smarmy and
possibly a closet case. The actress
chatted with Gay City News about
her new fi lm and her thoughts on
the Bakkers.
KRAMER: What is the appeal
of this story? Not just for you
as an actress, but for us viewers,
who love the schadenfreude
of seeing a sanctimonious man
fail?
JONES: It has historic importance.
I was in my 20s in the mid-
80s when all of this was going down.
We were watching this march of
Cherry Jones as Rachel in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”
televangelists, who were spawned
from the days of Billy Graham —
the Jerry Falwells and Pat Robertsons,
who were accumulating
this tremendous amount of political
power in the country. Jim and
Tammy Faye were on the happy,
good and bright and cheerful and
“we will prosper and live in joy and
happiness” side of the movement.
There was something for everyone
in the evangelical movement. If you
wanted hell and fi re and damnation,
you had Falwell; if you wanted
middle-of-the-road you had Pat
Robertson; and if you wanted peace,
light, love, and prosperity, you had
Jim and Tammy Faye. But you had
this march towards theocracy if
they had their way. And right in the
middle of that you had Margaret Atwood
write “The Handmaid’s Tale,”
about America becoming this rightwing
SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES
theocracy that controlled every
breath a woman took.
At that same time, to have Tammy
Faye Bakker — she really was
a maverick in that she got to speak
her mind as a woman in a time
so ruled by power-crazed hungry
men who wanted not only to control
their children, their wives,
their churches, and their communities,
they wanted to control the
country and eventually the world
if they could have! They were scary
dudes. What is ironic now is that
you don’t need Jerry Falwell anymore.
Trump is his own church
now. He’s his own God. God has
chosen him. He is the messiah to
people. He’s God’s “fl awed messenger.”
That’s why it’s relevant to today.
If you care about history and
how we get places, this is part of it.
What is equally fascinating is that
Jim Bakker is still doing it. All he
was born to do is to be a con artist,
and now in this day of doom
and gloom and at these end times,
he’s selling products for the end of
the world and COVID cures. If you
haven’t checked him out, promise
me you will. He is still going strong.
And he’s married to a woman who
looks like Tammy!
KRAMER: Do you pity these
people? The fi lm shows their
hubris, their moral failure, but
also their delusions. This fi lm is
a cautionary tale, but it’s a very
specifi c one. What do you think
we can learn from “The Eyes of
Tammy Faye?”
JONES: I think it’s “Don’t judge
book by its cover.” Tammy was a
woman of tremendous strength
and fortitude, and positivity and
love, love, love. Through it all, she
had an ability to connect with people
that was really moving to see.
There’s some crazy interview she
did with Roseanne Barr that I saw
on YouTube, and Roseanne Barr is
being such a bitch in the way she’s
questioning what Tammy’s done to
her face. She is being awful to her.
Tammy could have said right back
at her, how do you think you have
the right? But she approached it
with love, and never got upset or
angry. There is something about
her personality that I am so struck
by. The fi lm was fortunate that Jessica
Chastain brought her to life for
this generation to see. Historically
it is a fascinating period that leads
us right to today. As a woman, she
was a completely unique creature
in that world. Even though she
seems like a victim in that world,
I think she’s the one true survivor
who came out with her dignity intact.
KRAMER: You excel at playing
characters like Rachel who
are skeptics or provide a voice of
reason. I love seeing you play nononsense.
What are your thoughts
on the characters you play?
JONES: I basically do my mother.
I get hired to do my mother
laughs. My mother was very
strong and wonderful. She was an
English teacher, and brilliant, and
kind, and loving, and had a real
strength. When I am at my best
and my strongest when I do these
women, I’m just doing momma.
KRAMER: Do you think you
will ever get to make a great lesbian
fi lm? “The Party” was nice,
but I want more. I’ve been wanting
this for years!
JONES: I can’t answer that.
Just put it out in the zeitgeist and
let’s see what happens!
THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE|
Directed by Michael Showalter |
Opening September 17 at area theatres
| Distributed by Fox Searchlight
September 23 - October 6,14 2021 | GayCityNews.com
/GayCityNews.com
