Lily James revealed she lost many jobs for living as Pamela Anderson during the intense filming process for her hit show Pam & Tommy.
The 33-year-old actress, who played the Baywatch star on the Hulu series, admitted she was “shot dead” and “a real wreck” after living in the role the whole time.
The star said she even spoke to her own mother in Pamela’s voice and never really left the role during filming. She insisted that the difference between her real self and Pamela was too different.
‘Shot to s***’: Lily James revealed she lost many jobs living as Pamela Anderson after filming biographical drama Pam & Tommy
Lily told The Mirror: “It was such a messed up process. You just have to be patient with yourself.
“The hours are so long and you feel really burned out. Your nervous system is like a shot in the ass. I ended up feeling like a real wreck.”
Lily portrayed Pamela’s troubled relationship with Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, 59, who was played on the series by actor Sebastian Stan, 40.
‘I felt like a real wreck’: The 33-year-old actress, who played the Baywatch star on the Hulu series, admitted she was ‘shot in the head’ and ‘a real wreck’ after she died lived in the role all along
The actress admitted that it was “too extreme to go back and forth” because she’s so different from Pamela, and continued to play her in real life.
She added: “The difference between me and her was too extreme to go back and forth. So I had to stay in this middle no man’s land like Lily/Pamela most of the time. I would totally slip into her voice.
“Even if I went out to dinner and ordered from the waitress or called my mother, I was an American. I think I’ve lost a lot of jobs because I speak like Pamela every audition.’
Lily had to put on makeup for four hours a day to transform into the star and admitted it gave her the courage to disappear as someone else.
Lily was nominated for Lead Actress at the 2022 Emmy Awards but was beaten by Amanda Seyfried, who won the award for her role as Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout.
Pam & Tommy chronicles the sextape scandal that rocked Pamela and her then-husband during their three-year marriage.
The ‘Downton Abbey’ star previously told PORTER that playing Pamela feels “liberating” but explained, “I’ve never worked so hard. i read the books [Anderson] wrote, I read her poetry, I can parrot all her interviews.
Telling the story: The 33-year-old actress played the Baywatch star on the show, which chronicled the marriage between Pamela and Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee (Lily pictured as Pamela on the show)
She said: “Of course there was the physical transformation. Slowly, our incredible team found a balance where I felt like Pamela but also felt empowered to act through it.
“I’ve never done anything that made me look completely different than myself. And so I would like to continue because I felt that there was something very liberating and liberating about it. From this came bravery. A courage that came from… disappearance.’
Pamela, 54, and Tommy, 59, married on a beach in Mexico in 1995 after dating for just four days. Back then, Pamela’s mother hadn’t even met Tommy.
The couple would go on to welcome sons Brandon, 25, and Dylan, 24, but they divorced in 1998.
All stars: Lily starred alongside Sebastian Stan, who played Tommy Lee (couple pictured in series)
In 2015, Pam told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live that she never benefited from the sextape or even watched it. She said: “I’ve never seen it before. I didn’t make a dollar. It was stolen property.
“We made a deal to stop all this nonsense. I was seven months pregnant with Dylan and I thought the stress was affecting the pregnancy and said, ‘I’m not going to court anymore. I won’t be deposed by these horny, weird lawyers anymore. I don’t want to stop talking about my vagina or my public sex – anything.”
The sextape was stolen by Rand Gauthier, played by Seth Rogen on the show, after Tommy reportedly refused to pay for work he had done on her home.
Seeing double: Lily (L) looked the spitting image of Pamela (R) as she slipped into a busty red swimsuit for the series
When Gauthier confronted the musician about not being paid the $20,000 owed him, Tommy pulled a gun to deter him.
Gauthier retaliated by stealing the huge safe that had been kept in the couple’s garage, which mainly contained the drummer’s guns and Pamela’s jewelry, in addition to the sex tape.
Earlier this year, Pam claimed the video wasn’t actually a sextape, just a compilation of footage of them naked on vacation that happened to contain sexual acts.
