Image Source: Variety
With just a few days away from the release of their highly anticipated limited series, ‘Pam & Tommy’, starring Sebastian Stan and Lily James, the actors spoke to Variety on their process of getting ready as Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee. The actors also shared about the experience they had on the sets working with each other.
Lily James who feels grateful that she was finalized to play Pamela Anderson on-screen shared that she watched her on ‘Baywatch’ while growing up and was in awe of her. Lily added, “Sometimes you admire qualities in people that you feel you’re lacking, or you want to be more like. And I’ve always felt there was this boldness to Pamela, this unashamed kind of authenticity. And even without knowing exactly what went on and the details of the tape, just who she kind of stands for, it feels so brave.”
As soon as she was finalized for the character, she went ahead to re-watch Baywatch to understand her character and went down to know and research about the actress including her mannerisms, behavior, and speech patterns. Lily said, “She talks really fast, and I would watch her interviews over and over again and annotate them, learn them, and parrot along with her. I wanted to get that energy and that impulsiveness and that spirit that she has when she’s in front of the camera.” In a shocking turn of events, even with all the preparations and research that Lily did on the Baywatch actress, she almost quit the series because she felt, "I can’t do it. I can’t do it.’ It just felt too frightening. But I think that’s a good place to work from because it keeps you growing and getting better, I hope.”
Similarly, popular as Bucky Barnes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sebastian Stan was also amazed during his transformation into Mötley Crüe’s drummer Tommy Lee and was initially confused on why he was finalized to play the role of the drummer who had his body covered with tattoos whereas Sebastian has none. He said, “I don’t have a single tattoo on my body. So I was like, ‘What exactly is making you think that I can play this man?’ But I was intrigued enough to want to see why he was calling. When you’re playing somebody who’s from real life, the story is there; you’re a journalist at that point. You’re really researching all you can and trying to understand as best as you can.”
So like Lily, Sebastian also started to do his research and watch interviews of Tommy Lee, read his autobiography, ‘Tommyland’, and consumed the Mötley Crüe tell-all “The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band”, but according to Sebastian Stan, the biggest preparation he did was to learn how to play drums and complete with the drumstick twirl which was Tommy Lee’s signature move. “It’s not easy to do. My fingers were swollen for a good week and a half. I kept hitting myself in the head with it”, he said. Director and executive producer Craig Gillespie who joined the series later was impressed with how Sebastian Stan and Lily James had put the efforts to transform themselves into the characters and the zeal they both had to make them look authentic as much as they could.
Craig said, “They were so committed, and also protective of their characters. They never let up. They were constantly working with it, trying things and finding that nuance. It’s that thing of not doing an impersonation but trying to capture the essence of what the [real-life Anderson and Lee] were feeling. That’s the tricky part, and I think they both nailed it.” Lily spent a minimum of three hours in the makeup and hair chair to turn into Pamela Anderson whereas Sebastian had to apply replicas of Tommy Lee’s ink every few days and had to lose weight to Tommy’s 1990s skinny physique.
Sebastian Stan says, “I looked at the tattoos as sort of being a costume in itself". In addition to the tattoos, Tommy Lee had his nipple’s pierced which was a tough choice but it was a no-go for the actor but they have managed to create it with prosthetics. During the interview, a special mention was given to a scene where Tommy Lee meets Pamela Anderson for the first time and discusses that he might be in love in a heart-to-heart conversation with his penis.
According to reports, the penis tête-à-tête is inspired by an actual passage in “Tommyland”. In the scene where Sebastian Stan as Tommy Lee is talking to an organ, the organ is voiced by actor Jason Mantzoukas and talking about the approach towards the scene, Stan said, “By the end of it, I treated it like it was an intimate buddy conversation that one might have when they’re falling in love.” The actors shared that they had intimacy coach who helped them to lead to filming of the intimate scenes and shared, “You always have to approach those scenes with caution and make sure that you really trust the people involved. First point of call is the script. Do we feel it’s necessary? Do we feel that it’s progressing the story? Is it crucial to the character? Then you work with the director and how you’re going to block it and the intimacy coach. I felt very supported in all those aspects. It was very collaborative; we really spoke through each choice of what we wanted to show. It’s very choreographed, which is really important too. Certainly, with ‘Pam & Tommy,’ and those crazy four days, we wanted to revel in that passion and explosion of their relationship. But we also didn’t want it to feel sensational or unnecessary.”
Lily James had previously shared that she did try to reach out to the actress but wasn’t successful and now they have respected her desire to not be involved. But Sebastian Stan did get in touch with Tommy Lee but declines to give many details of their meeting but said, “He seemed touched and appreciative that I took the time to even reach out and connect.” Lastly, Lily added, “It just made me want to work even harder to try and portray her not only authentically but to do her the justice she deserves. It’s interesting to me that we are relooking at a lot of those stories from the ’90s through this more modern perspective. It’s the only way we can grow and learn and move forward.”
While Sebastian Stan added, “All we can do is just sort of wait and see how people perceive it — and certainly how [Anderson] perceives it.” The show premieres on Hulu on 2nd February 2022.
Information Source: Variety
