Jessica Chastain felt guilty for judging Tammy Faye Bakker before playing her on screen.

The 44-year-old actress portrays the late televangelist in the new movie 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye' and believes it the way to atone for her "harsh" views of her alter ego when she was younger.

Jessica said of Tammy Faye: "I didn't watch religious television, but I knew she was silly and easy to make fun of.

"She was on the cover of tabloid magazines, so I thought she must be a terrible person."

The 'Molly's Game' actress explained that her opinion on Tammy Faye changed after she had watched a documentary about her life – which serves as inspiration for the film.

Jessica told the Daily Mail newspaper's Baz Bamigboye column: "I felt guilty I'd judged her so harshly."

Tammy Faye's marriage to her husband Jim Bakker (played by Andrew Garfield in the flick) fell apart after he was convicted of fraud but Jessica feels that her character was harshly treated for Jim's mistakes due to her looks.

She explained: "Her husband made some mistakes – and Tammy was vilified for it.

"But really, it was because of her appearance. Women have been commodified in society. So much is about physical appearance and that's how women have been judged."

The '355' star continued: "She was shamed, and Tammy's the physical embodiment of that shame.

"People would look at her and go: 'She's the kid from a broken family.' That's how it was.

"She knew what it was like to be unloved and unwelcome. Her thought was to connect and reach out to strangers, because she believes in God's good grace."