This story about Michael Shannon first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Drama and Limited Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine. All actor interviews in that issue were conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike began.
Perhaps the only thing more surprising than “George & Tammy” star Jessica Chastain receiving her first Emmy nomination as country legend Tammy Wynette is that her journeyman costar Michael Shannon is also receiving his first Emmy nomination as country legend George Jones, despite an impressive TV background that includes HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” and Hulu’s “Nine Perfect Strangers.”
“Jessica fought to get me in there after there was a vacancy,” Shannon said of his Oscar-winning “Take Shelter” costar, “because I think some of the powers that be were like, ‘Can we get somebody a little more… whatever?’”
But as he’s been doing throughout his remarkably chameleonic career, Shannon provided something far beyond “whatever” and slipped effortlessly into the skin of troubled crooner Jones, with an impressive set of pipes to match his costar’s.