'Pam & Tommy' director says limited series aims to 'hold a mirror up to ourselves as being culpable'
Hulu is preparing its limited series titled Pam & Tommy, "based on the true scandal" that started the highly publicized and whirlwind romance between Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee in 1995.
Director Craig Gillespie is at the steering wheel, and he gave insight into the project during an interview with Brian Davids for The Hollywood Reporter and likened it to directing 2017's biographical drama I, Tonya:
"There are similar parallels to the journey of this. There’s this very public persona of what that was, and people kind of know it and think they know the story. So we’re able to delve into it and actually really look at them as human beings in this. The true story was so destructive to their lives, and we’re able to hold a mirror up to ourselves as being culpable in the way that we devour media and people’s lives without any concern for the repercussions that it’s having on those individuals. The showrunners, Rob Siegel and D.V. [DeVincentis], have done a really interesting job. And so in a similar way, I think you come into this show because of the salacious nature of it, and then you get to realize that we’re culpable in even watching it for those reasons."
We got the first glimpse at Lily James and Sebastian Stan in character as Anderson and Lee respectively in early May:
Courtney Love, a close friend of Anderson's, then publicly ripped the series in a private Facebook post (h/t People).
"I find this so f—ing outrageous," the 56-year-old rocker wrote, in part. "When Pam / Tommy sex tape was out / myself @pattyschemel @xmadmx were making a record. And the lone women in many recording studios in LA. Where all / ALL! The staff engineers / producers / owners / were watching the sex tape with huge schadenfraude.. Guffaws, It was disgusting. I banned anyone discussing it.. It destroyed my friend Pamelas life. Utterly."
The Hulu series will touch on Anderson and Lee's infamous sex tape—described as the first-ever viral video in history" by Hulu, per Glamour. The tape was filmed during their honeymoon and later stolen, then distributed.
The Baywatch star and Mötley Crüe member married in 1995 after knowing each other for all of 96 hours. Their tumultuous relationship ended in divorce in 1998. They have two sons together: 24-year-old Brandon and 23-year-old Dylan.
Neither Anderson nor Lee have publicly commented on the series, which does not have a premiere date.
For more information on Pam & Tommy, click here.
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