‘George & Tammy’ First Look: Jessica Chastain & Michael Shannon Star As Country Music Stars In Upcoming Miniseries

Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon first costarred together in 2011’s “Take Shelter.” Now, they’ll costar again in a very different project: “George & Tammy,” a miniseries about country music legends Tammy Wynette and George Jones for Paramount Network. The series is a long-time passion project for Chastain, who first signed onto the project in 2011 when creator Abe Sylvia wanted to make it a film. Instead, over a decade since first conceived, it’s a six-episode series directed by John Hillcoat, set to debut later this year. Chastain produces through her production label, Freckle Films.

READ MORE: Jessica Chastain Says Michael Shannon Will Co-Star & John Hillcoat Will Direct Her Tammy Wynette/George Jones Miniseries

But what drew Chastain to “George & Tammy” in the first place? In Vanity Fair’s First Look at the series, Chastain explained it was a mixture of Wynette’s talent and her proclivity for divorce, which undermined the message of some of her biggest hit songs. “It was fascinating to me that someone like Tammy Wynette, who sang all these songs like ‘Stand by Your Man,’ also was married five times,” Chastain told VF.  “I was excited about this woman who was married and divorced multiple times and struggling in Nashville and really made a name for herself on her own. She charted multiple times before she met George Jones.”

Wynette and Jones had both already been married twice before they got together and became “Mr. & Mrs. Country Music” in the 1970s. Together, they created chart-topping songs like “We’re Gonna Hold On,” “Let’s Build A World Together,” “Near You,” and “Golden Ring.” However, their fruitful creative partnership was also unsteady, in no small part due to Jones’s alcoholism. Wynette first filed for divorce from Jones in 1973 before they briefly reconciled to release “We’re Gonna Hold On” together, but their separation was finalized in 1975. Despite the divorce, the pair remained in contact and major parts of their respective lives until Wynette died in 1998.

As for Shannon, “George & Tammy” attracted him because of the music. “Frankly, I wasn’t that familiar with George Jones,” Shannon told VF about how he came involved with the project. “I’m not a huge country music fan—I’m more of a jazz guy, really—but when [Chastain] brought it to my attention, I got pretty seduced by the whole thing. It’s a tragic story, but it’s also a very romantic one.” But Shannon came around to the country songs he had to rehearse for the part constantly. “These songs, they’re pretty deep and they’ve got some dark corners in them, and we spent a lot of time with them,” Shannon continued. “In addition to learning how to sing them, I think they also kind of taught us about who the people were and the story we were telling.”

Chastain and Shannon trained with Nashville-based vocal coach Ron Browning for several months to prep for the series. And while Shannon is a singer and musician himself, he found it daunting to capture George Jones’s voice. “George Jones is, to my ear, one of the finest singers I’ve ever heard in my life,” he said. “It’s obviously a fool’s errand to try to completely emulate that—that’s one of the reasons he’s legendary, is that there will never be another one like him.” Songs included in the show are Wynette’s “Help Me Make It Through The Night,” and Jones’s “The Race Is On.” As for Chastain, she doesn’t have Shannon’s musical background, so singing live in front of a theater full of extras was “the scariest thing I’ve ever done.”  

Chastain had other demands to meet while playing Wynette, too. She lost a lot of weight to play the singer at the end of her life, when Wynette suffered from a multitude of health problems and an addiction to painkillers. “I don’t really like to look at scales, but I stopped eating,” Chastain told VF. “I was drinking juices and I kept doing it until I looked sick.” But the suffering both singers endured in their lives is the crux of the new series. “I think the bottom line is they were both tough people,” Shannon added. “They overcame some pretty insurmountable situations to get to the limelight.”

“George & Tammy” also stars Steve Zahn, Kelly McCormack, Katy Mixon, and Walter Goggins. No word yet on when the miniseries hits Paramount Network, but it will be premiere before the end of the year, so, country music fans, mark your calendars. Check out first look images for the series below.