00:00The first thing you see is the headlines and the scandals and the prison time, and so you go,
00:04well, let's rewind and let's find out how this happens. Go into detail and actually look deeper
00:10than the headlines and the punchline. The last thing I want is to play Jim in a way that was
00:18at all shallow, superficial, or villainous. Andrew Garfield didn't want to play
00:24televangelist Jim Baker as a villain in 2021's The Eyes of Tammy Faye. His co-star Jessica Chastain
00:31went on to win an Oscar for the titular role. Five years later, Jim Baker would pass away at the
00:36age
00:36of 86. On Facebook, his second wife, Lori, called him a pioneer of Christian television and wrote
00:42that Jim finished his race with faith. Baker's legacy, however, was indeed scarred with scandals,
00:48including a $279,000 hush money settlement to his church secretary. Jessica Hahn had accused Baker
00:55and another preacher of drugging and raping her in a hotel room when she was 21. Baker claimed it
01:01was consensual. While the sex scandal made Hahn famous, she even posed for Playboy, the Baker's
01:07TV empire came crashing down. A federal probe into their church and luxurious life followed.
01:12They owned several homes, a jet, and Rolls Royces. Jim was sentenced to 45 years in prison
01:18for fraud, but served just five before being paroled in 1994.
01:42For over a decade, Jim and Tammy Faye Baker charmed TV audiences as co-hosts of the PTL Club,
01:48which stood for Praise the Lord, from 1974 until 1987. In 92, she divorced him while he was behind
01:56bars after 31 years of marriage, and Tammy Faye became an unlikely gay icon and pop culture figure.
02:03Here she is being spoofed by Megan Mullally on SNL in 2004. A few years later in 2007,
02:09Tammy Faye would pass away at the age of 65 after a long battle with cancer. The Baker's life story
02:15certainly made for good TV and an award-winning movie. So it's no surprise Andrew Garfield
02:20previously said he doesn't want people to forget about all the good that Jim and Tammy Faye did.
02:25Garfield told People Mag,
02:27They created a theme park for Christians. They created housing for unwed mothers and single
02:32mothers who had been abused by their spouses. They created housing for severely disabled children.
02:37They were good Christians in so many ways. It's an amazing feat that they managed to create together.
