How did Lily James and Sebastian Stan become Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee? The actors explain their intense preparation and incredible makeover for the Pam & Tommy series.
Returning to the sulphurous love story between Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee through the scandal of their sextape in the 1990s, stolen and broadcast by a certain Rand Gauthier, the Pam & Tommy series tells how this affair profoundly changed their lives. , their couple and pop culture.
To embody these terrible lovers, Lily James and Sebastian Stan were chosen. The two actors spent a lot of time preparing for these extraordinary roles, both physically and psychologically.
Intense preparation for Lily and Sebastian
To slip into the skin of Pamela Anderson, Lily James entrusted to variety having watched many Baywatch episodes and spent hours looking at archival footage to become familiar with his mannerisms, demeanor, and speech:
“She talks really fast, and I would watch her interviews over and over and annotate them, learn them and rehearse with her. I wanted to have that energy and that impulsiveness and that spirit that she has when she’s on camera.”
Despite her intense preparation, Lily James panicked and nearly quit the show shortly before filming: “I really wanted to leave the show a week before. I thought to myself that I couldn’t do it. It was just too scary. But I think it was a good ground to work on, which allowed me to grow and get better.”
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Same story for Sebastian Stan, who was perplexed when Craig Gillespie contacted him to play Tommy Lee. As he had already worked with the director on Me, Tonya, the actor let himself be convinced and did a real research job to best embody the drummer of Mötley Crüe:
“When you play someone who comes from real life, the story is there, you’re a journalist at that point. You research everything you can and try to understand as best you can.”
Sebastian Stan watched Tommy Lee interviews on YouTube, read his autobiography tommyland but also the book The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band. And he especially had to apprehend the artistic part of Tommy Lee.
The actor spent months learning to play the drums, drummer style, with the swirl of drumsticks: “My fingers swelled up for a good week and a half. I kept hurting.”
Director Craig Gillespie was impressed with the preparation and work of Lily James and Sebastian Stan: “They were so invested and so protective of their characters. They never let go.
They were constantly working on trying things out and finding that necessary nuance. It was not to imitate but to try to capture the essence of what Pamela Anderson and Lee were. That’s the tricky part, and I think they both nailed it.”
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An impressive physical transformation
The physical metamorphosis of Lily James and Sebastian Stan is more than impressive. To achieve this result, the actress spent at least three hours doing makeup and hair to transform into Pamela Anderson, arriving in the studio at 3:30 am.
For his part, Sebastian Stan had to apply replicas of Lee’s ink almost every day to replicate his tattoos and also went on a diet to get his lean physique. As for the rockstar’s piercings, Sebastian Stan has worn prosthetics for the show.