We speak to GeorgeAndTammy creator Abe Sylvia about the moment he first knew Jessica Chastain would be Tammy Wynette, how he approached her and George Jones' flawed love story, and what dictated the Showtime series' emotional musical moments:
The love of one's life isn't always the right person to have one's life, as Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon so aptly depict in George & Tammy. The Showtime limited series focuses on the dynamic and difficult relationship between country superstars George Jones and Tammy Wynette, whose love launched a number of hit singles.
Abe Sylvia: I got the idea to tell Georgia and Tammy's story first as a feature, and that same weekend I saw The Tree of Life. I told the producer attached to it, "I think Jessica Chastain should be Tammy," so we approached her. She came on board, and she really stuck with the project. Abe Sylvia: That's true.
Abe Sylvia: We're telling a love story about two flawed people who fell in love with one another's flaws; with what was problematic about the other person. And I think, to a degree, a lot of love is based on that. That's why people have continued to invest in Georgia and Tammy's love story. As problematic as it is, there is something relatable about investing in a person and thinking that love will fix all. And then when it doesn't? How devastating.
We really approached it from that standpoint, and we had Jessica and Michael, who are both wonderful singers. But how can we make them more like Georgia and Tammy? Well, they're two of the finest actors alive, so we make sure that every performance is coming from an emotional place in the story. They can play the scene and grab you in the way that George and Tammy would, even if they don't sound exactly like them.
Abe Sylvia: Well, it's always Tammy story. It's always George and Tammy-centric, so as powerful a force as George Richey was in her life and in our show, it's very rare that we leave one of our leads' perspectives. There's maybe three times in the show that we do that, and it is to reveal [something big]. It should be unsettling in episode 5, when we finally break perspective to show who Richey is.
That also explains why you don't follow certain narrative avenues, such as their kids who also become singers.
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