Jessica Chastain honors LGBTQ community with Best Actress win

The angels of the Academy Awards have sung Jessica Chastain's performance as Tammy Faye Bakker into Oscars heaven.

After one of the most unpredictable category races in recent Oscars history, Chastain won her first Best Actress prize at Sunday's 94th Academy Awards ceremony for her performance as the famed religious figure in Michael Showalter's biopic The Eyes of Tammy Faye, edging out Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter), Kristen Stewart (Spencer), Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos), and Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers).

Chastain used her acceptance speech to highlight critical societal issues from the mental health crisis to suicide prevention — particularly among the LGBTQIA+ community.

"Right now we're coming out of some difficult times filled with a lot of trauma and isolation, and so many people out there feel hopelessness and they feel alone, and suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States. It's touched many families, it's touched mine, especially members of the LGBTQ community who often feel out of place with their peers. We're faced with discriminatory and bigoted legislation sweeping our country with the only goal of further dividing us. There is violence and hate crimes being perpetuated on innocent civilians all over the world. In times like this, I think of Tammy, and I'm inspired by her radical acts of love. I'm inspired by her compassion and I see it as a guiding principle that leads us forward, and it connects us all in the desire that we want to be accepted for who we are, for who we love, and to live a life without the fear or violence or terror. For any of you out there who do in fact feel hopeless or alone, I just want you to know that you're unconditionally loved for the uniqueness that is you."

Though Chastain had amassed a healthy track record (including a Screen Actors Guild Awards victory) heading into the Oscars, Cruz picked up major steam in recent weeks, with four out of five of EW's Secret Ballot voters telling us that they were voting for the Spanish performer over Chastain.

Throughout the awards season, Chastain had been a warm presence on the circuit, using public appearances to promote causes similar to those Tammy Faye did throughout her life — including sharing her platform with LGBTQIA+ community members. The actress even brought HIV activist Steve Pieters as her date to the 2022 Oscars luncheon in early March. Pieters previously appeared as an interview subject on the Tammy's House Party talk show in 1985, when the televangelist showed compassion as she discussed Pieters' life as an openly gay man living with HIV at a time when homophobic sentiment was on the rise during the AIDS crisis.

Chastain's victorious performance (she was previously nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her turn in The Help and for Best Actress for her leading role in Zero Dark Thirty) saw her undergo a robust physical transformation to capture Tammy Faye's physicality, including hours of facial prosthetic work before shooting scenes of the televangelist's later life. She even reportedly did permanent damage to her face as a result of the cosmetics.

The makeup and hairstyling team responsible for the external transformation was later nominated for an Oscar as well. While Chastain has regularly attributed her internal makeover as Tammy Faye to their work on the outside, she also gave herself some liquid courage through filming.

"My preparation for singing was bourbon. I'm not even gonna lie. I was so scared," Chastain previously told EW of getting ready to sing her way through the film, which concludes with an epic musical scene. "It was [for] medicinal purposes, but that's actually what really helped me get beyond it."

The Eyes of Tammy Faye is now streaming on HBO Max. See the full list of 2022 Oscar winners here.

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