How Lily James and Sebastian Stan Transformed Into ‘Pam & Tommy’ – WWD

When paparazzi pictures of Lily James and Sebastian Stan on the set of Hulu’s restricted collection “Pam & Tommy” have been launched final spring, many have been shocked by the celebs’ uncanny resemblance to the titular characters.
James, who performs former “Baywatch” actress Pamela Anderson, was just about unrecognizable along with her pencil-thin eyebrows, platinum blonde hair and voluptuous determine, whereas Stan, who performs Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, was seen sporting a virtually an identical duplicate of the determine’s plethora of physique tattoos.
Both stars’ transformations could be credited largely to the present’s in depth make-up, hair and prosthetics departments, which spent roughly 4 hours every day turning them into their respective characters. The appears have been led by make-up division head David Williams, hair division head Barry Lee Moe and particular results make-up designer Jason Collins.

“For me, authenticity and believability are completely paramount,” Williams stated about engaged on the present. “I needed to remain as true to Pam as might presumably be carried out as a result of we’re replicating a picture that’s effectively burned into the zeitgeist of America.”

Hulu’s “Pam & Tommy” is a dramatized retelling of Anderson and Lee’s marriage and the unauthorized launch of their intercourse tape. The two figures have been married in 1995 after figuring out one another for 4 days and turned one of the crucial well-known movie star {couples} of the Nineteen Nineties. They in the end divorced in 1998. The present additionally casts Seth Rogan, Nick Offerman and Taylor Schilling, amongst others, and airs new episodes on Wednesdays.
While each James and Stan had in depth transformation processes, the previous’s required essentially the most prosthetics. James’ transformation began with Collins, who took three-dimensional photos of the actress and in contrast her options to Anderson’s to find out what wanted to be altered. From the comparability, it was decided James’ transformation centered on a brow prosthetic, which might enable her hairline to be moved up and her pure eyebrows to be coated.

Lily James as Pamela Anderson in “Pam & Tommy.”
Courtesy of Hulu

“I felt like if we might get the brow to that kind of excellent profile the identical that Pam has, then we’d be gold,” Collins stated. “Lily has these superb thick eyebrows which can be stunning and you don’t need to tweeze these, so we coated them up, coloured them and put the equipment over. We realized that received us loads nearer to Pam.”
This then helped Moe obtain accuracy with James’ wigs, matching the actress’ hairline to Anderson’s. While authenticity was of the utmost significance for all heads, the hair stylist took slight inventive liberties to make sure James’ hairstyles would look real looking and not distract the viewers from the efficiency.
“I had to have a look at [James’] hairstyles and actually decide what was going to work on digital camera and what wasn’t as a result of Pamela’s hairstyles have been excessive and type of wild,” he stated. “Some of those appears, had I re-created them to a T, I knew it could look borderline caricature of just about like Lily James in drag as Pamela Anderson, which none of us needed. There have been some issues I took liberties with as a result of I had to ensure they have been going to look pure and plausible on Lily and not only a wig that was slapped on her head like a hat.”

James’ look was continued by means of further make-up, mimicking the skinny eyebrows and smokey eye make-up that Anderson usually sported within the ’90s. It was then accomplished with further particulars like veneers — which imitated Anderson’s smile and pursed James’ lips — acrylic nails and prosthetic breasts to copy Anderson’s determine.
For Stan, his transformation relied closely on Lee’s many physique tattoos. Similar to James’ course of, Stan additionally had three-dimensional pictures taken of his physique to find out his physique proportions. The proportions then helped Collins’ crew determine how massive every tattoo wanted to be. The tattoos have been then re-created on Photoshop, printed on a particular water slide paper and utilized to Stan’s physique. This course of took roughly three hours every day.
While the present spans a number of years — throughout which Lee was getting extra tattoos — Collins and his crew determined to stay with one particular set of tattoos to not pull the viewers out of the present. For occasion, Lee’s “Mayhem” tattoo on his torso was solely partially accomplished when he first met Anderson, nonetheless, Collins determined to function the complete tattoo on Stan to finish the look.
As Stan is shirtless for a big a part of the present, it was additionally vital for Collins to use nipple prosthetics on Stan to imitate Lee’s nipple piercings.

Sebastian Stan as Tommy Lee in “Pam & Tommy.”
Courtesy of Hulu

“I don’t suppose the [prosthetics] supersede the efficiency in any approach,” Collins stated. “These are actors that actually took what we have been doing and used them as instruments. They took these belongings that we gave them and actually integrated them into their mannerisms.”
Unlike James, Stan caught together with his pure hair for the present. Moe and his crew dyed Stan’s hair a darkish brown shade and gave the actor a Brazilian straightening therapy to match Lee’s straight hair.
“We have been all the time dancing that line of film star and rock star,” Williams stated about Stan. “We needed to maintain him within the land of being a rock star. We type of needed to tough him up a bit. Not make [Stan] as fairly as he naturally is — that’s not saying that Tommy isn’t fairly, it’s only a totally different sort of fairly.”
The three make-up and hair leads consider their work was essential for the general present because the characters’ magnificence appears performed a vital position in who they’re and what they have been going by means of.

“Something I responded to early on in my analysis was how Pam’s hair modified from second to second,” Moe stated. “I noticed an actual story by means of Pam’s hair and how she used it all through her life as a defend. Her hair was one thing she hid behind at occasions when she was uncomfortable and you possibly can see her utilizing it as a prop in some ways to keep away from a query or shift her vitality.”
Collins continued that sentiment, noting that the hair, make-up and prosthetics helped transfer the story ahead and additional the connection between the actors and their characters.
“Whenever you do this sort of make-up, it’s a kind of issues the place you both get the essence or an actual match,” Collins stated. “I feel we have been in a position to get an actual match and the essence on the similar time, which I didn’t suppose we have been going to get as a result of Lily on floor worth appears completely totally different from Pam Anderson. The incontrovertible fact that we have been in a position to fine-tune the issues she did have in widespread and construct upon felt like we took a scalpel to it somewhat than a giant machete to attempt to make it work.”
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