Lily James has said Pamela Anderson never spoke to her about preparing to play her in Pam & Tommy, despite reaching out.
Pam & Tommy follows the wild lives of Baywatch star Pamela Anderson and Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee when their private sex tape turns up on the internet.
James has said she did reach out to Anderson to speak about the role, but there was no response.
“I was really hopeful she would be involved. I wish it had been different.”
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“My sole intention was to take care of the story and to play Pamela authentically,” James continued. “I was very hopeful that we would be in touch right up until we started filming”
“When you recreate any character, you’re taking on another person’s life without necessarily having all the information, so I really have to put huge trust in the director. But I want to provoke a conversation, and I want to be part of these attempts at change.”
“I realise a lot of it’s incredibly sensitive and difficult. And so, as an actor, to a certain extent, what you do is make yourself very open to talk to all of that.”
Playing opposite her as Tommy is Avengers star Sebastian Stan. Unlike Lily James, Stan did at least speak with Tommy Lee in the lead up to filming.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight Online, Lee said “from what [Stan] has told me, it’s a really beautiful story… The story is actually cool, but what actually happened wasn’t. But he tells me it’s pretty wild.”
“It’s a cool story and people need to know. It’s cool. I’m stoked. It’s cool.”
Also starring in the series is Seth Rogan (Rand), Nick Offerman (Uncle Miltie) and Taylor Schilling (Erica).
The series is directed by Craig Gillespie of I, Tonya (2017) fame.
The first three episodes will premiere on the 2nd of February.
Catch it on Hulu in the US and Disney+ everywhere else.
Watch the trailer below!
