The Makeup, Hair and Costuming Products Behind Lily James’s Major ‘Pam & Tommy’ Transformation

When the primary pictures of Lily James as Pamela Anderson in Pam & Tommy dropped firstly of 2021, the fervent response matched the drama of the makeover itself. The British actress who acquired her huge break in Downton Abbey now not resembled the quintessential English Rose; she was all of a sudden indistinguishable from the blonde bombshell.Like American Crime Story earlier than it, Pam & Tommy sought to make clear a real-life ’90s information story that plugged a traumatic occasion right into a lazy punchline for late-night hosts. While the very concept of Anderson and Tommy Lee Bass’s stolen intercourse tape titillated tabloids, Anderson’s bodacious persona was the one argument wanted for the tape to be launched.In a narrative so pushed by objectification, it was important that James look the half for the sequence, now streaming on Hulu. “I believe all of us equally wished to have fun Pam, but in addition inform her story in probably the most correct method we might,” costume designer Kameron Lennox lately informed ELLE.com, when requested in regards to the cautious tap-dance between hair, make-up, and costume groups. Added hair division head Barry Lee Moe, “My largest factor was to convey humanity and life to a girl that’s so iconic, and to not make it a caricature of who she was.” Painting a full image of Anderson—from her public notion to her intimate, whirlwind romance with Lee Bass—was intrinsic to creating Pam & Tommy greater than a suffix to its sleazy predecessors. Brought in for the job had been latest Emmy winner Moe, make-up division head David Williams, particular make-up results designer Jason Collins, and costume designer Lennox, who every broke down for ELLE.com the four-hour course of James undertook earlier than stepping foot on set. Below, you will discover a transformation play-by-play—in addition to an assortment of merchandise the staff used and advocate, together with hair and make-up must-haves and convincing dupes for the Lennox-sourced classic items James sports activities all through the sequence.

Lily James as Pamela Anderson in Pam & Tommy.
Erin Simkin

Curating a ’90s WardrobeWhen it got here to assembling James’ costume closet, Lennox stresses that each decide was meant to honor Anderson, not satirize her. “We didn’t wish to ever make enjoyable of Pam,” she says. “She did encourage numerous vogue.” In truth, each time the staff would shorten a skirt or alter a gown for James, they devised a intelligent moniker: “We ‘Pammed’ it.”The majority of the items Lennox sourced from classic patrons and costume-house leases, although just a few clothes—together with a sea-green swimsuit James wears throughout a deposition scene—had been stitched from scratch by Lennox’s cutter and fitter Lydia Jakubowski. Because the costume staff didn’t have entry to Anderson’s archives, Lennox was compelled to lean exhausting on pattern analysis from the period. Take, for instance, episode 4, when an incognito Pam dons a pair of Hard Tail terry fabric sweats—a key element, contemplating this was pre-Juicy Couture period. Still, Lennox wished to take care of some sense of timelessness about Anderson’s model, given the celebrity’s lasting impression on the cultural consciousness. Many of the manufacturers James wears within the present are both long-term stalwarts of the runway or making trendy comebacks: Jean Paul Gaultier, Christian Dior, and physique con attire by Mark Wong Nark (together with one in bubblegum pink) reside in Pam’s closet beside Moschino and Chanel purses, YSL platforms and Pleaser stilettos. “There are some golden eggs in there which are the actual deal,” Lennox says.

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Go Big, Go BlondeOriginally, James thought-about dyeing her hair to match Anderson’s well-known platinum blonde ’do, however Moe says, “We moved away from it shortly as a result of it was going to be numerous stress and upkeep.” Instead, he tapped Los Angeles-based Wigmaker Associates to design 4 lace-front wigs to alternate all through the manufacturing. “I used to be in a position to at all times have a rotation going to maintain the hair wholesome, but in addition to prep issues forward of time as a result of our taking pictures schedule was so fast-paced,” Moe explains. To make sure the wigs by no means appeared like, nicely, wigs, Moe sifted via a library of pictures to slowly model a few of the seems to be, although he admits he was aided by James’ dedication to the half. Referring to her as a “nice hair actress,” Moe provides, “It was necessary to Lily to get her arms in there and play along with her hair. That helped promote the piece as nicely as a result of the hair is continually shifting.” Using classic velcro rollers to set her waves, Moe was in a position to give James the mountainous quantity Anderson was recognized for.Because James’ hairline was nearer to her brows than the real-life Anderson’s, particular make-up results designer Collins and his firm, Autonomous FX, designed prosthetics to cover James’s very Twenty first-century brows. Such a cover-up made room so as to add Anderson’s personal pencil-thin brows, made from lace. Next, Collins and his staff developed an acrylic set of dentures to push out James’s lip. “Lily wished to maintain them in all day,” he says. “As a British actress, she’s already battling an American accent. I believe these tooth helped preserve her in character and remind her in regards to the accent.”

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A Strong Foundation“As I typically say, ‘A bit paint will make you what you ain’t,” make-up artist Williams says whereas describing the 4 totally different rounds of make-up utility James undertook every day. First got here prosthetic make-up, then corrective make-up utilizing spotlight and shadow, subsequent character make-up, and lastly “magnificence make-up.” To poke enjoyable on the time-consuming enterprise, Williams gave every crew member a compact that featured a well-known Anderson quote, which speaks to the size of the method: “Natural magnificence takes no less than two hours in entrance of a mirror.” The staff fondly recalled how James used this day by day routine to good her portrayal of the Baywatch star. “Every second she was training—even within the chair,” Collins says. “Every second she was taking a look at interviews, each second she was trying on the method Pam moved; all of these issues are the one issues that make a make-up and hair character profitable.”While since-discontinued make-up traces meant Williams didn’t have troves of ’90s cosmetics to select from, he was in a position to supply just a few staples, together with the MAC Cosmetics lip pencil in “Spice,” in addition to “Rose” and “Beige” lipsticks from the unique Bobbi Brown 10. “Bobbi Brown set the pattern of make-up within the early ’90s, taking the warfare paint of the ’80s off and going for a really pure search for ladies,” Williams says. His staff additionally made use of latest merchandise, together with Charlotte Tilbury’s Pillow Talk and Hermes lipsticks. To create Anderon’s good “peaches and cream” complexion, Williams used Stila cream blushes in “Peony” and “Petunia.”

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Recreating BaywatchGiving James the identical silhouette as Anderson required a prosthetic breastplate. “We did two or three totally different assessments with three sculpts to ensure that it to look proper in any respect angles and all views,” Collins says. Perhaps the place this mattered most of all was when James slipped into Anderson’s traditional Baywatch swimsuit, which, notably, has a visual sideboob: “It’s not one that offers us any room for error,” Williams joked. Pressures had been excessive as Lennox and her staff labored to create the right scarlet one-piece. Little did they know fairly how intense the highlight would turn into when manufacturing launched. On one life-imitates-art event, the crew’s seaside taking pictures location was surrounded by paparazzi hoping to get a shot of James within the crimson swimsuit. Lennox noticed a photographer up a tree, whereas Williams recalled one other “on the hill up above Highway One, the PCH freeway, and Malibu.” Perhaps probably the most excessive instance was a cameraman who appeared to be cradling a child whereas standing waist-deep within the ocean. “As quickly as they referred to as ‘motion,’ that man pulled that child up, and it was a long-lens digicam,” Moe says.

James in Anderson’s iconic Baywatch swimsuit.
Erica Parise

While that taking pictures day was probably the most “nerve-wracking” for Williams, Collins says there was nonetheless one thing gratifying in regards to the feverish consideration. Seeing the press’s response to James’ look confirmed that the costume, hair, and make-up groups had been on the suitable path. Lennox had began work on Pam & Tommy on the similar time she was ending Apple TV+’s ’80s aerobics dramedy Physical, so she was already deep in a Norma Kamali-inspired sartorial headspace by the point she sat right down to create Anderson’s one-piece. While watching re-runs of Baywatch, she observed every of the actresses wore a distinct design to enhance their figures. For Anderson as C.J., the excessive French-cut sides and low bust had been parts Lennox wished to emulate. “The colour crimson was a giant factor, too, as a result of it’s a really particular Baywatch crimson,” she says. “We did supply who made their unique bathing fits and used that as a template for the proper crimson.”

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An Uncanny ResemblanceThe hair, make-up, and costuming groups first knew they succeeded whereas watching James movie the opening scene of episode 1. Pam & Tommy’s opener begins with Anderson’s 1996 look on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and if audiences didn’t know higher, they could mistake the scene for archival footage. James, as Anderson, sports activities an over-the-top updo and classic 1993 Versace, stitched right into a maternity match for the sake of Pam & Tommy’s (barely) alternate timeline. Williams himself had labored on The Tonight Show throughout Leno’s tenure, so it was important to make Anderson’s look look as genuine as doable. “To be standing on that stage and really feel like I used to be on the NBC studio watching Jay interview Pam,” he says, “it was actually one among my favourite moments. My worlds collided that day.”And if you happen to’re asking his co-collaborators—or, hell, anybody watching the sequence now—his efforts didn’t go unnoticed. “I really feel like that was a type of days the place that was Pam Anderson sitting in entrance of us and we ten-thousand-percent nailed it,” Moe says. “The monitor pictures we had been taking that day, even trying again at them now—it is uncanny.”

Emma Fraser
Emma Fraser is a contract tradition author with a give attention to TV, motion pictures, and costume design.

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