RadioTimes.com<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of, you know, the most cringy thing a British person could ever be a part of. So yeah, I came in just fascinated, I was like, how did this happen? How do these people think? And how do they, you know, justify this, asking for money in the name of God? It\u2019s wild. So that\u2019s how I entered it from the very British perspective of, how the hell does this go down?\u201d<\/p>\nAs a newcomer to the topic of televangelism, Garfield naturally went about doing a great deal of research to get a better handle on Bakker\u2019s story. He delved into thousands of hours of footage that exist from the various shows Bakker presented alongside Tammy, as well as speaking to several people who knew him and reading a range of biographies and autobiographies.<\/p>\n
This research process, Garfield says, is one of his favourite parts of the job. \u201cI had to kind of focus my attention in the most kind of juicy places, I suppose,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I love that \u2013 that\u2019s my favourite part of the process actually, is the research process, because you\u2019re just kind of magpieing, you\u2019re just kind of absorbing a subject that you\u2019re fascinated by, and you become a kind of shallow expert over the course of a few months. And then you move on to the next thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I absolutely loved it. And for me, what was fascinating, I think, what drew me was, you know, it was about what\u2019s the seed of what makes someone equate money with love? And what\u2019s the kind of fatal flaw in the soul of that person? And that was, that was kind of where I wanted to really kind of mine in terms of playing Jim.\u201d<\/p>
One thing that he didn\u2019t do in preparation for the role, however, is speak to Bakker himself \u2013 although not completely for want of trying. Garfield explains that there were vague attempts to arrange a meeting with Bakker \u2013 who still runs a TV show and ministry in Missouri \u2013 but that these attempts were ultimately fruitless.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very open to it,\u201d he says. \u201cI spoke to some of his family, and I kind of put it out there that I would love to speak to him if he was open, but I never heard and I don\u2019t blame him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, I love him,\u201d he adds. \u201cAnd I really care for him. And I hope he\u2019s okay. Because, you know, what I felt in playing him, and this is obviously only my interpretation, was there was a real terror, a real terror of being empty, a real terror of not being enough, of not being, you know, a full person. And I think he was\u2026 it seemed like he was filling his life up with material things in order to escape something, some sense of inadequacy in himself.\u201d<\/p>\n