Andrew Garfield Says Jessica Chastain Rescheduled ‘Tammy Faye’ Filming so He Could See His Mom Before Her Death

Andrew Garfield is grateful to have filmed the 2021 film The Eyes of Tammy Faye with Jessica Chastain — especially because Chastain supported him through the death of his mother, Lynn, in 2019.

In a new interview, Garfield reveals Chastain helped move around the biopic’s filming days so that he could see Lynn before she died of pancreatic cancer at age 69.

“What was amazing was that [Searchlight Pictures’ David Greenbaum] and Jessica rearranged the schedule last-minute, put filming on hold [in North Carolina] for a few days so that I could go back [to England] and be with my mom for 10 days,” Andrew tells People.

Garfield says he and Chastain “would have deep conversations” as they got to know each other while filming the movie, for which Chastain won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as televangelist Tammy Faye Messner and Garfield played husband Jim Bakker.

Related

'Nobody Wants This' & More 2024 Rom-Coms & Dramas to Swoon Over

“I’m really very grateful for that time with her,” Garfield adds, “because it was the time when my mum was really sick and ultimately passed away.”

The actor also tells People that Tammy Faye costar Vincent D’Onofrio also encouraged him to take personal time.

“Because he had his own experience with a loss that he wasn’t able to make it back for, he said, ‘Go. You got to go,’” Garfield recalls. “And I was like, ‘Well, I know I’ve got to go and thank you.’”

Garfield discussed the loss of his mother in a recent episode of Sesame Street as well.

“I’m just thinking about my mom today,” he told Elmo on the children’s show (see above). “She passed away not too long ago, and, you know, I just miss her, miss her a lot.”

“It’s actually kind of okay to miss somebody,” he added. “You know, that sadness is kind of a gift. It’s kind of a lovely thing to feel in a way, because it means that you really loved somebody when you miss them. … When I miss my mom, I remember all the cuddles I used to get from her, all the hugs I used to get from her. … And it makes me feel close to her when I miss her, in a strange way.”