Jessica Chastain's skin 'permanently damaged' after recent movie transformation

Jessica Chastain says her skin has been left ‘permanently damaged’ as a result of her extensive make-up and prosthetics to become Tammy Faye Bakker.

The 44-year-old actress is taking on the role of the controversial televangelist in new film, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, which required her to take on the real-life star’s love of heavy make-up and false eyelashes.

But it seems her efforts to nail the look and staggering transformation came at a cost.

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“I think for sure I’ve done some permanent damage to my skin on this,” Chastain told The Los Angeles Times.

“Listen, I eat very pure and I take very good care of my skin and I stay out of the sun and all that stuff. But it’s heavy.

“And when you’re wearing it all day every day – the weight of it on your body, it stretches your skin out.”

In fact, the make-up had such an effect on Chastain, that initial tests of her transformation — which takes more than seven hours — showed that they had to change their plans to make it work.

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“The very first test I did was difficult, honestly,” she said. “I mean, we fixed it. But I was freaked out. I was like, ‘I don’t know how to act like this.’”

The Eyes of Tammy Faye tracks the rise and fall of Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker who became household names and icons of Christian value.

Building an empire on televangelism throughout the 70s and 80s, Tammy is seen morphing from a country housewife into a colourful leading lady, complete with mountains of make-up to appease her adoring fans.

Her husband Jim, played by Andrew Garfield, is seen relishing in his newfound fame as it begins to change him.

The couple created the world’s largest religious broadcasting network, The PTL Club, complete with a theme park.

However, Jim was later charged with fraud surrounding the family business, and was revealed to have settled a rape and sexual misconduct allegation out of court using PTL funds.

The controversy eventually led to their divorce, but both continued their work as televangelists.

Tammy Faye, later Tammy Faye Messner, was later praised for her work around the AIDS crisis and her support for LGBT rights in the States. She died in 2007.

The Eyes Of Tammy Faye is coming to UK cinemas soon.

Watch: The Eyes of Tammy Faye trailer