For Jessica Chastain, the third time is the charm. After two previous nominations – one for Best Supporting Actress in “The Help,” another for Best Actress in “Zero Dark Thirty” – Chastain has been named Best Actress at the 94th Academy Awards for her portrayal of infamous televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in Michael Showalter’s “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.”
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Even before the nominees were announced, Chastain had been considered one of the leading candidates for the Best Actress award; she made our shortlist all the way back in September 2021. However, it was her recent Best Actress win at the 2022 SAG Awards that effectively secured her status as frontrunner going into tonight’s ceremony. Chastain beat out fellow nominees and Oscar frontrunners Penélope Cruz (“Parallel Mothers”) and Kristin Stewart (“Spencer”).
Throughout award season, Chastain has credited “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” makeup artists Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram, and Justin Raleigh for helping her achieve her onscreen transformation. Earlier tonight, Chastain made good on her promise to prioritize her support of the team, heading into the theater early to embrace all three members of the team on their expected Hair and Makeup Academy Award win. Given the much-derided decision to move these categories out of the main broadcast, this was a nice gesture by the actress and a nice social media moment for a part of the program that might otherwise have been overlooked.