From the moment the biopic on Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker was announced, one thing was clear; the film would garner as much attention and adoration from the LGBTQ community as Tammy Faye herself did. The Eyes Of Tammy Faye premiered this past Friday, with the woman that inhabited Tammy Faye Bakker portraying her so precisely and poignantly in the film, Jessica Chastain walking the red carpet. Chastain was joined by a litany of New York City’s most glittering drag darlings, garbed in their best Tammy Faye regalia. Decked out in various eras of Tammy Faye’s life were Scarlet Envy, Yuhua Hamasaki, Marti Cummings, Jasmine Rice, Pattaya Hart, Blair Bitch, Holly Box-Springs, Nancy NoGood, and Countess Mascara. They joined Chastain, (whose portrayal of Bakker is stunningly heartbreaking) who herself strutted the red carpet in the image of a 70’s disco queen (decked out in Burberry), perfect for a balmy New York City evening.
During press for the film, a couple other now legendary queens got to chat with Chastain about her portrayal of the polarizing and beloved Bakker. (who herself, morphed into a gay icon, in no small part due to the documentary of the same name “The Eyes Of Tammy Faye“). Nina West chatted with Chastain about Bakker talking about the AIDS pandemic before the United States government even did so, and how in Chastain’s opinion, she “saved lives”.
Fresh off of her RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 6 run, Ginger Minj chatted with Chastain about a moment where when Bakker realized several young men were talking about her, she walked directly up to them, introduced herself and shook their hands. It was at that point, that Bakker realized that “meanness comes from personal pain” according to Chastain. Chastain herself is quoted as saying that one of the overarching reasons she wanted to make the film was due to Bakker’s advocacy for the LGBTQ community.
Scarlet Envy followed up on her red carpet appearance with a co-starring role of her own, as she joined Jessica Chastain, Anotoni Porowski (Queer Eye, and the new book Lets Do Dinner) and host Andy Cohen. Garbed in a second stunning recreation of a Tammy Faye classic look, Envy manned the bar and chatted with Cohen about Kylie Sonique Love’s stunning win during All Stars 6 (“we all love a recovery don’t we“)?
Behind the bar, it's @ScarletEnvyNYC as Drag Tammy Faye! ✨ #WWHL pic.twitter.com/BGCYmryJD1
— Watch What Happens Live! (@BravoWWHL) September 17, 2021
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Tammy was a gay ally.