Entertainment

Jessica Chastain set to play country music star Tammy Wynette in TV miniseries

George & Tammy will chronicle Wynette’s relationship with singer George Jones.
George & Tammy will chronicle Wynette’s relationship with singer George Jones.

Oscar-nominated actress Jessica Chastain is set to play country music star Tammy Wynette in a TV miniseries focused on the singer’s marriage to George Jones.

George & Tammy will chronicle the country music power couple “whose complicated relationship inspired some of the most iconic music of all time,” producers said.

The series is based on the book, The Three Of Us: Growing Up With Tammy And George, penned by the couple’s daughter, Georgette Jones.

Jessica Chastain
Jessica Chastain is set to play country music singer Tammy Wynette in a new TV miniseries (Ian West/PA)

No casting decision for Jones has been announced.

Wynette is one of the most successful female artists in country music history and is best known for the 1968 hit Stand By Your Man.

She married Jones in 1969 and the pair endured a tumultuous relationship, divorcing in 1975.

Their duets together include the songs We’re Gonna Hold On, Golden Ring and Near You. Wynette died aged 55 in 1998 while Jones died aged 81 in 2013.

Chastain – known for films including The Help, Zero Dark Thirty and It Chapter Two – will also serve as an executive producer on George & Tammy, alongside series creator Abe Sylvia.

Sylvia said: “Tammy Wynette is an American icon, and I can think of no-one better to illuminate the woman behind the legend than Jessica Chastain.”

George & Tammy is a joint production between Spectrum Originals and Paramount Network.