Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Jessica Chastain moved to tears as she accepts best actor SAG Award for Tammy Faye role

‘Whoa. Wow. Okay, I’m really surprised... I’m the luckiest person ever’

Peony Hirwani
Monday 28 February 2022 01:28 EST
Comments
Jessica Chastain moved to tears as she accepts best actor SAG Award for Tammy Faye role

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Jessica Chastain is “completely stunned” after winning the Best Actress award for her role in The Eyes of Tammy Faye at the Screen Actors Guild Awards 2022.

The 44-year-old actor beat Olivia Colman, Jennifer Hudson, Lady Gaga and Nicole Kidman for the award.

During an emotional acceptance speech, Chastain said she was really “surprised” to have won this award.

“Whoa. Wow. Okay, I’m really surprised. Thank you SAG for this, I’m completely stunned,” she said. “I had the best acting troupe one could have with Andrew Garfield, Vincent D’Onofrio, Cherry Jones. I’m the luckiest person ever.”

Chastain continued by revealing that it was a “dream” of hers to play the role of evangelist Tammy Faye Messner (formerly Bakker).

“She was a real trailblazer,” the actor said, before pausing and saying: “I’m so nervous!”

“She wrapped her arms around those who were repeatedly cast aside and she launched herself into decades of LGBTQ love. I worked on the project for 10 years, and I hope that we made her story in a way that she would be proud of,” Chastain said.

“I wanted to be an actor my whole life, and ever since I was a kid it was the only thing I ever really thought about, and there were years of studying and auditioning and not getting jobs,” the Ava actor added. “And I know what that feels like and I know the loneliness of what that feels like.”

She wrapped up her speech with a message to everyone who is “struggling and feeling unseen”.

“For those of you who are struggling and feeling unseen I just want you to keep going because you’re one job away, I promise! And the thing that really kept me going was you. It was everyone in this room and it was this community,” Chastain said.

You can find the complete list of film and TV winners at the 2022 SAG Awards here.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in