Michael Showalter on breaking from comedy to direct The Eyes Of Tammy Faye
The State and Wet Hot American Summer alum says he could still see the "absurdity" in the Bakkers' over-the-top lives

It took Jessica Chastain about 10 years to get her adaptation of the documentary The Eyes Of Tammy Faye made, and it was worth the wait. The recently released dramatization of the documentary is eye-opening, well-acted, and compelling, all while shining a light on what life was like inside Tammy Faye Bakker’s world.
As the director, Michael Showalter was charged with putting Chastain and company’s vision on screen. A comedian and actor himself—he came up in the sketch groups The State and Stella, and co-wrote and starred in Wet Hot American Summer and its TV spin-offs—Showalter sought to highlight the movie’s performances first, while also capturing what he calls “the Bonfire Of The Vanities aspect of the way in which these two people found themselves in this maelstrom of insanity.” We talked to Showalter about how he made that happen, from his endless hours watching the PTL network to the narrative choices the movie makes surrounding Tammy’s love life.
The A.V. Club: Jessica Chastain has been working on making The Eyes Of Tammy Faye into a feature for quite some time. When did you come on board, and what was your vision?
Michael Showalter: I know the story, I know the characters, and I’m interested in stories about good intentions gone horribly wrong. I like the kind of Bonfire Of The Vanities aspect of all of it, the way in which these two people found themselves in this maelstrom of insanity and the way in which its tentacles reached so wide, even right into our current situation. There’s so much relevant stuff going on there.
There are also just larger-than-life colorful characters, so cinematically, I saw color and costumes and just bringing that world into reality.
I remember watching [The PTL Show] and there’s a show-within-the-show aspect to it. So I liked the opportunity to work on a movie about a bunch of people making a TV show.
The character of Tammy Faye Bakker is a really, really compelling central character, a kind of misunderstood character who we know in our culture as a kind of a laughing stock and a bit of a villain. I like the opportunity to show that, maybe if you peel layers back, you’ll see her in a different way. And of course, I liked the opportunity to work with Jessica Chastain, whose work I admire so much. I felt like would be really exciting to collaborate with her on this.
AVC: I read that Jessica met with Jim and Tammy Faye’s two children, and that they gave their blessing to the movie. Did you ever talk with or meet them?
MS: I did not, but I certainly talked to Jessica a lot after she did. We were getting reports from Jessica about what those conversations were.