They were country music’s power couple. George Jones and Tammy Wynette had over 30 number-one country songs between them. Wynette is best remembered for her hit, “Stand By Your Man”. Now the Showtime series, “George and Tammy,” starring Academy Award winner Jessica Chastain and Oscar nominee Michael Shannon, follows the rise and fall of country music’s king and queen.
The stars, Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon, joined “Live in the D” host Tati Amare to talk more about the series.
“George and Tammy” follows this couple’s complicated lovestory and shows things that might surprise viewers about their backstory. Chastain said what surprised her about Tammy is her history of what happened to her before she headed to Nashville, including being divorced a divorced mom with three kids when she showed up in Nashville. She also mentioned the love Tammy had for George even before they met, and said she had a book with all of the lyrics to every song he sang.
Chastain won the Oscar for best actress for her portrayal of Tammy Faye Bakker in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.” The actress stated that she agreed to play this other Tammy in 2011 before there was a script and stayed for a decade because she knew how important it was to tell the story.
Both George and Tammy had distinctive voices, and both actors sang in this series. Shannon said the preparations were grueling because they took it seriously with vocal and singing coaches for months before they started shooting; they also did pre-records of the songs and performed them live.
Shannon said you can look forward to him getting old, and Chastain said she had to lose a lot of weight for the finale.
You can watch the six-part Showtime drama series “George and Tammy” on Showtime. The finale is this Sunday at 9 p.m.
Watch the video above for the full interview.