Category: Articles

Jun

Press: Sebastian Stan Transformed Himself Like Never Before For ‘Pam & Tommy’

The Playlist – Sebastian Stan Transformed Himself Like Never Before For ‘Pam & Tommy’

Sebastian Stan will tell you that in order to play the Winter Soldier he spent years trying to put on “weight” to match the physique of Chris Hemsworth‘s of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He’ll also tell you, in his own opinion, he never truly pulled it off. He went in a significantly different direction to play legendary drummer Tommy Lee in “Pam & Tommy.” For that series, Stan spent months learning how to play the drums and used intermittent fasting and exercise to try and duplicate Lee’s skinny and lanky frame. And yes, that physical transformation was just as difficult as trying to gain all that muscle for previous projects.

“It was tough because it required such drastic changes and it was learning new things,” Stan says. “But then once we got there, once I got to April and we had that camera test, it was delayed gratification. Finally, on that day of the camera test, all the work that I’d done and all the ideas I had had about how it was going to look and what was going to happen and the physical stuff, it all clicked and made me feel like it was part of helping me to get the courage to go there. And a lot of that had to do with the tattoos and the physical was a big part of it. But once we were in costume, once we had the hair and makeup and everything else, then it was, O.K. This is more real now. Up until that point, it was 100% anxiety every day.”

The Hulu limited series also saw his co-star Lily James become unrecognizable as Lee’s one-time wife (and, arguably, love of his life), Pamela Anderson. Over the course of our interview, Stan discusses reuniting with his “I, Tonya” director Craig Gillespie, the infamous and outrageous scenes in the program’s second episode, how he researched Lee’s life story, and much, much more.

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Published by Samantha

Published on Jun 14, 2022

Articles Pam & Tommy Photos Press Videos

Jun

Press/Video: Sebastian Stan (‘Pam and Tommy’) reveals trick to staying ‘at a level 10, no matter what’ while playing rock icon Tommy Lee (w/ Screen Captures)

Gold Derby — Sebastian Stan (‘Pam and Tommy’) reveals trick to staying ‘at a level 10, no matter what’ while playing rock icon Tommy Lee

“I don’t play the drums, I don’t play any instrument,” confesses Sebastian Stan during our recent chat about his role as Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee in the Hulu limited series “Pam and Tommy.” “I started taking drum lessons in January, about two-and-a-half months before we started. Everything about it was terrifying. It felt like big shoes to fill on every level. Personality-wise, certainly reputation-wise. Whether it was going to be believable. The idea of just going there was sort of terrifying.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

Based on the 2014 Rolling Stone article “Pam and Tommy: The Untold Story of the World’s Most Infamous Sex Tape” by Amanda Chicago Lewis, the Hulu series follows the turbulent marriage of actress Pamela Anderson (played by Lily James) and Lee after their honeymoon sex tape is stolen and eventually launched on the internet for millions to see.

“The sex tape is the easiest thing to point the finger to, but then as you peel it apart you realize there’s all these other layers to it and there’s something extremely timely to it,” Stan says. “This celebrity obsession really started kicking up to a different level in the 90s. That has really percolated until today, including the loss of privacy and how we’re all affected by the internet and the parts that we play in it, anonymously. And the parts that the media plays, as well, shaping narratives that are not true.”

The actor says keeping up with Lee’s energy took a few tricks of his own. “He was always at a level 10, no matter what,” Stan explains. “That’s how he was written in the script and, if you look at the interviews, it almost feels like he’s always listening to a piece of music. Or he’s constantly almost at the drums even when he’s not playing. I tried [an] earpiece device that I had throughout the scenes and I would always have music playing in my head. There were some things you learn to rely on to get you there, but it is tough. It’s not you. You’re handed a life and you’re told, ‘Go fit into that somehow,’ and you don’t always know if you will or not.”

Note: The complete video interview is at the GoldDerby link above. I’ve added screen captures to the gallery.

Web Videos (2022) > GoldDerby

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Published by Samantha

Published on Jun 13, 2022

Articles Pam & Tommy Press

Jun

Press: Jennifer Aniston and Sebastian Stan Bond Over ‘Friends,’ TikTok Hurting Acting and That ‘Pam & Tommy’ Penis

Variety –Jennifer Aniston and Sebastian Stan Bond Over ‘Friends,’ TikTok Hurting Acting and That ‘Pam & Tommy’ Penis

Of course Jennifer Aniston and Sebastian Stan are bound to talk about the 1990s. Stan is receiving Emmy buzz for donning tattoos and losing weight to play Tommy Lee, the Mötley Crüe drummer, in Hulu’s limited series “Pam & Tommy” — which is set in the decade that made Aniston a star on “Friends.” Actually, as Aniston thinks about it, she could see Stan chilling on the famous coffeehouse couch on her former sitcom. But they don’t agree about one thing: Is he a Joey or a Chandler?

The time travel then moves to the early days of COVID, to discuss Aniston’s transformative turn as anchor Alex Levy on Season 2 of “The Morning Show.” In the latest arc on the Apple TV+ drama, her character jets to Italy to confront her disgraced colleague and best friend Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell) — but that wasn’t always the show’s plan. By the time they finish exchanging stories on Variety‘s “Actors on Actors” presented by Apple TV+, Aniston and Stan are so comfortable, they’ve cast themselves in a dream project together.

SEBASTIAN STAN: I’m such a huge fan of yours. I have been for years, so this is very special. Where I’d love to start is with doing a show during COVID, and incorporating COVID as subject matter. How was that approaching it from the perspective of Alex?

JENNIFER ANISTON: There was obviously no COVID when we started shooting, although there were rumblings of it. It was, like, January. We had shot for about a month. All of a sudden, companies were closing and working from home. We were all saying, “What about the actors? We don’t have the luxury of social distancing. We’re in scenes together.”

STAN: Yeah.

ANISTON: And they’re like, “Screw the actors.” So we shut down. We took that time to realize that there was something missing in Season 2; it had to be completely reimagined. The same thing happened with Season 1, where we had about seven shows outlined, and the #MeToo movement happened. I feel like our show is kind of in this place where we actually deliver the news literally, as in real time.

STAN: I found in the pandemic watching the news was heartbreaking and exhausting. And sometimes it made me paranoid. Did you find that you ended up watching more news as a result?

ANISTON: Actually, the opposite. I watched more news before, because I loved morning shows. But when we started shooting, I stopped watching. It was too much. You shot “Pam & Tommy” during the pandemic as well.

STAN: We did. We started around this time last year, so the vaccines were just coming out. Everybody felt safer or a little more relief. But it was just weird because it was the ’90s every day for 12 hours.

ANISTON: Which, by the way, feels like yesterday.

STAN: I know.

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Published by Samantha

Published on Jun 10, 2022

Articles Press

May

Press: Adam Scott, Kaitlyn Dever and more on that particular torture actors deal with

LA Times –Adam Scott, Kaitlyn Dever and more on that particular torture actors deal with

If the Emmy Drama Roundtable proves anything, it’s that even the stars of TV’s buzziest shows are familiar with the indignities of the working stiff.

When asked, in regard to his role in “Severance,” if there’s a job on his résumé he’d prefer to forget, Adam Scott said even his less memorable work moved him forward. But, he noted, “My first job ever, I was in the background for a Tia Carrere music video. … It was in the fall of 1993 and it was at a coffeehouse and I had a beret and I was drinking coffee. I actually can’t find it on YouTube, so I guess the world has forgotten about it.”

Rhea Seehorn, starring to broad acclaim in the final season of “Better Call Saul,” said, “I have many auditions I’d like to forget.”

“I would forget every audition if I could,” said Melanie Lynskey, who stars in Showtime’s creepy survival tale “Yellowjackets.”

Sebastian Stan, in the process of obliterating his Marvel superhero image with a transformative turn in “Pam & Tommy,” used to submit elaborate VHS audition tapes.

“I think my first big movie job came off of a tape,” he said. “And I remember I was really cool about it because I had a cigarette. You couldn’t really do that in the auditions. And this particular time it worked because the producer smoked cigarettes and he really was just …”

“‘Someone that smokes cigarettes is right for our cast,’” Scott interjects.

Kaitlyn Dever of “Dopesick” recalled one of her first jobs, at age 14, on Scott’s show, “Party Down”: “I played a girl named Escapade. … I sang ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ in front of the entire cast.”

Jin Ha, who holds degrees from Columbia and NYU and is currently featured speaking three languages (four dialects) in “Pachinko,” said, “There’s a babysitting job I wish I could sever [from] my brain. It was just once because they never asked me back. It was two young girls and I made bacon for them and it did not go well. I poured the hot oil into the trash bin, which must have melted.”

Here, in excerpts from their sit-down with The Times (edited for length and clarity), the six actors explain the inner workings of their characters, learning from teachers, collaborating with directors and watching themselves onscreen.

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Published by Samantha

Published on May 25, 2022

Articles Pam & Tommy Press

May

Press: Lily James and Sebastian Stan on “Pam & Tommy” (2022)

Golden Globes – Lily James & Sebastian Stan on Pam & Tommy

Pam & Tommy, starring Lily James and Sebastian Stan, the much-awaited Hulu series directed by Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Cruella), explores the relationship between Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee and is an account of their stormy courtship and paparazzi-plagued marriage. The first celebrity couple to fall victim to a sex-tape scandal, the series chronicles the circumstances leading up to the shooting of the video on their honeymoon, and its aftermath following the theft of the tape and illegal distribution to the public.

It was 1996. The Baywatch actress and Motley Crue drummer were at the top of their game; however, the leak of the infamous tape containing the couple’s most intimate moments caused much misery, particularly for Anderson given the sexist and misogynistic culture back then. It also marked the end of Internet privacy as we knew it. Although it negatively impacted Anderson’s career, the sex-tape scandals that followed have, in many cases, launched careers, the likes of Paris Hilton’s and Kim Kardashian’s.

With the application of prosthetics and hours of sitting in the makeup chair each day, the resemblance thereby created between the two actors and the characters they are portraying is truly striking

Lily James says of how she felt when she first saw herself in the mirror as the famed bombshell: “It was shocking … but in a good way,” she laughs. “I spent three or four hours a day [transforming into Anderson], sometimes longer.” Sebastian Stan added, “To me, once I saw myself, it felt like, this is actually going to happen. We’re not just talking about it anymore.”

For Stan, because of the many required tattoos and piercings, he spent considerable time transforming into the quintessential rock god. James glances at Stan and offers, “For a dude, he spent a long time in the makeup chair.” Stan agrees. “Yeah, I had two men applying tattoos at the same time.” Adjusting to the nipple piercings was one of the less pleasant realities Stan had to endure. “It’s a strange sensation when a 45-year-old man is applying things to that area at 4:00 in the morning, so yeah, it took a minute,” he laughs.

The actors came together to answer questions on IMDB.com

Recreating the wedding scene, replete with James’s replica of Anderson’s bridal string bikini as she frolicked with Lee on the beach in Cancun, and as they ran into the ocean together, conjures a familiar image, one which was replayed countless times on TV and in the tabloids throughout the mid-90s.

Stan says, “I remember shooting that day. It was so freezing, and we were told we had to go in the water.” James adds, “Yeah, I felt the dread just rising. We had to run into the sea, and it was one take. It’s funny because it looks so romantic, but we were surrounded by people screaming at us, ‘Go, go, get in the water!’”

Tommy Lee is widely regarded as one of the great rock ‘n’ roll drummers of his generation, and Stan had to rise to the challenge of appearing authentic while playing the drums. “I learned as much as I could for the first three months while we were preparing. I had drums at home, and I had someone come over [to teach me] on a regular basis.”

Stan considers which of Lee’s tattoos, replicated on his own body, is his favorite. “There were so many. There was Mighty Mouse, and that leopard on my arm, but probably it was the MAYHEM tattoo (across his torso).” He grins. “That was pretty epic.”

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Published by Samantha

Published on May 20, 2022

Articles Fresh Press

May

Press: Hulu Offers ‘Fresh’ Twist to the Emmy Race, Submits Sebastian Stan Horror Film for TV Movie (EXCLUSIVE)

Variety –Hulu Offers ‘Fresh’ Twist to the Emmy Race, Submits Sebastian Stan Horror Film for TV Movie (EXCLUSIVE)

An exciting and welcomed twist to the Emmy race for outstanding television movie has arrived, as Mimi Cave’s horror-comedy “Fresh,” starring Sebastian Stan and Daisy Edgar-Jones, is being submitted for Primetime Emmy consideration.

This offers an interesting possibility in a category that hasn’t drummed up much excitement over the last couple of years. While buzzy titles like “Bad Education” and three consecutive “Black Mirror” episodes dominated, the soulful purpose of the category has seemed to be missing. Last year’s winner, “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square,” was the only film of the five other nominees to have another Emmy nomination (for outstanding choreography for scripted programming, which it won for Debbie Allen).

Since the separation of the TV movie and limited series categories in 1992 (merged again in 2011 before being separated again in 2014), there’s never been a traditional horror film nominated in the category. So while the category is stacked with contenders such as HBO’s “The Survivor” from Barry Levinson and Netflix’s animated feature “The House” contending for recognition, perhaps “Fresh” could be the first for the genre?

The switcharoo also highlights the banner year for its star Sebastian Stan, who will now have another shot at gold for his work as Steve, the charming and cannibalistic serial killer — another strong outing alongside his turn in the miniseries “Pam and Tommy,” also from Hulu. While the categories for outstanding limited series and outstanding television movie are separated at the Emmys, the actors from both sides compete in the acting categories. However, while his work in “Fresh” is undoubtedly entertaining, the Romanian-born performer has a significantly better shot for his interpretation of Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee.

The 39-year-old’s alluring talents have been a fascinating journey to watch unfold in Hollywood over the last decade. While getting his start as the gambling addict Carter Baizen in the classic series “Gossip Girl,” he’s churned out incredible performances in films such as “I, Tonya” (2017) and “Destroyer” (2018). His most recognizable character has been Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. the Winter Soldier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, most recently appearing in the Disney+ drama series “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.”

Though Stan has unfortunately garnered few accolades thus far, aside from a Critics Choice nom for “Political Animals” in 2013, he may finally be within arm’s reach for his first major awards nomination. He also has a role in Emmy winner Benjamin Caron’s (“The Crown”) directorial film debut “Sharper,” opposite Julianne Moore and John Lithgow, due out later this year from A24 and Apple Original Films.

“Fresh” is another potential Emmy vehicle for Stan’s co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones, best known for her stunning work in the miniseries “Normal People” and now co-starring opposite another MCU superhero actor, Andrew Garfield, in FX’s crime-thriller “Under the Banner of Heaven.” In addition, Edgar-Jones has an upcoming role in Olivia Newman’s adaptation of “Where the Crawdads Sing” from Sony Pictures, produced by Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter.

Written by Lauryn Kahn, “Fresh” was acquired by Searchlight Pictures ahead of its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. In March, the film released on Hulu and received positive marks from critics and audiences.

Adam McKay and Kevin J. Messick produced the thriller. McKay is a two-time Emmy-winner for outstanding variety special live (2019 for “Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s ‘All in the Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons’”) and outstanding drama series (HBO’s “Succession” in 2020). Off his recent Oscar nomination for Netflix’s “Don’t Look Up,” this marks one of four possible noms McKay can receive this year — HBO’s “Succession” (drama series), “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” (drama series and directing the episode “The Swan”) and “The Invisible Pilot” (documentary series).

The current Emmy predictions for outstanding television movie are below. The full rankings can be found on Variety Awards Circuit prediction pages and are updated every Thursday.

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Published by Samantha

Published on May 10, 2022

Appearances Articles Pam & Tommy Press

Apr

Press: ‘Pam & Tommy’s Lily James & Sebastian Stan Sweated The Details While Seth Rogen Played Against Type – Contenders TV

Deadline –‘Pam & Tommy’s Lily James & Sebastian Stan Sweated The Details While Seth Rogen Played Against Type – Contenders TV

For Pam & Tommy‘s Lily James and Sebastian Stan, capturing the essences of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, in the public eye and privately, while also re-creating their uber-famous images were the central challenges of the Hulu miniseries. Conversely, Seth Rogen found himself working to dial down the many mannerisms that have made him one of contemporary Hollywood’s most likable stars.

Appearing together during Deadline’s Contenders Television panel, the trio revealed the unique approaches they took to convincingly play two enduring ’90s icons in ways both recognizable and revealing, as well as the figure — largely unknown to the general public — who pushed the celebrity couple’s infamous sex tape into the pop culture stratosphere.

Stan explained that to play Lee, he incessantly consumed video and audio of the Mötley Crüe drummer from the era. “It was like an everyday routine,” he said. “I had compiled a two-hour playlist of every single interview I could find, and I was running and trying to get 20,000 steps a day [with it] just on repeat.”

Stan noted that James employed a similar routine to channel the Baywatch actress, to an even greater extreme.

“Even between shots as they were setting up, [Lily was] listening to her constantly,” he said. “It was just a nonstop thing.”

Externally, they were aided by hair and makeup teams that meticulously transformed the actors’ physiques into uncanny doppelgangers for Anderson and Lee. “All the 3 a.m. wake-ups, because he had all his tattoos and I had prosthetics,” recalled James. “It was a long process every day to sort of make that change into someone else.”

“I think we were both kind of just hanging on by thread, texting each other, going like, ‘On a scale of one to 10, how horrible are you feeling about what we’re about to do?’” admitted Stan, who said the nail-biting continued right until their first camera test in character. “We finally got to put tattoos on, try the clothes, try everything, and then I think we both had that moment where we were like, ‘I think we’re gonna be OK, maybe.’ They both required such a massive transformation, I think, for both of us.”

Outside of the imagery familiar to the public, James explained that executive producer Craig Gillespie, who directed the first three episodes of the miniseries, pointed the actors toward finding an authentic sense of behind-the-scenes intimacy between the couple.

“Right from the word go, he really wanted this [to be] an opportunity to see them behind the camera, not when they’re displayed in an interview and being a sort of ‘on’ version – like, what were they like, intimately, privately together,” James said. “And obviously that took a huge leap of imagination, too. We can’t possibly really know, but we based on what we learned and read and watched that was the sort of where we landed.”

In playing Rand Gautheir, Rogen knew he didn’t have to summon a long-established public figure; instead, he had to downplay his own innate likability.

“I know I’m inherently likable as an actor, and I didn’t want the character to be too likable,” Rogen said. “Something that we actually tried to modulate, was how many of the things that I generally do as a performer that make me likable do I do? I don’t laugh in the movie at all. I don’t smile, really, ever. I don’t do any of the affable behaviors that I think make me someone that people feel like they know and can relate to.

“It is the instinct of a lot of actors, I’ve found, to like make their characters highly redeemable in some way, or they have to like something about the character,” he added. “I’m not that kind of actor – like, I liked nothing about Rand. I found him not a great person, by any means, and I found that he was not someone that I related to in any way.”

And like James and Stan, Rogen never met his onscreen alter ego in real life – as far as he knows. “Rand grows weed in Northern California, so I might have met him organically just through my day-to-day life without knowing it,” he laughed.

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Published by Samantha

Published on Apr 11, 2022

Articles Fresh Interviews Photos Press Site News

Mar

Press: Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan | Because Nothing Tastes as Good as a Great Date on the Town

Flaunt — Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan | Because Nothing Tastes as Good as a Great Date on the Town.

Ever had a bad dinner date? It’s not the law of attraction—rather the law of averages—that ensures anyone putting themselves out there on the love-seeking scene today will encounter their fair share of whackjobs, weirdos, and ghosts. But no dating disaster you’ve been through could be worse than what befalls the characters in gripping new Rom-Com/ Horror film, Fresh (Hulu). Starring young British actor Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People) and seasoned leading man Sebastian Stan (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I, Tonya, The Martian), Fresh begins by exploring the dynamics of the contemporary dating world… before crossing the boundaries of… taste…

Stan plays Steve, a handsome, single doctor who accidentally (but we realize later, of course, on purpose) strikes up a conversation with Daisy Edgar-Jones’ Noa in the produce aisle. It’s all so natural. They exchange numbers. He texts her. They go on a date. It’s a good date. Since they met IRL and not through an impersonal app interface, they skip a few steps and quickly get intimate. Noa’s best friend, Mollie, (played with verve by Jojo T. Gibbs) finds Steve’s lack of digital presence disturbing, but enjoying the love-buzz, Noa throws herself into her exciting new romance.

But Noa’s soon to find out—the very hard way—that behind this charming facade, ‘Steve’—a pseudonym—is really quite something else. Instead of the sophisticated getaway he promises her, she’s face to face with primal fears, and her sweet, sensitive lover is revealed to be a mix of Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and American Psycho, prone to Patrick Bateman-style musical interludes as he … well, that would be giving it all away. Suffice to say, in classic horror movie style, trapped in a mysterious house in the woods, Noa has to find a way to get out… And Fresh—directed by Mimi Cave, written by Lauryn Kahn, and produced by Adam McKay (Don’t Look Up, The Big Short, Vice)—is the clever, knowing, and full of suspense result.

Flaunt caught up with Daisy and Sebastian in London about Fresh, cuisine, and how they found a friendship in the midst of horror.

So how is London treating you?

SS: I think it’s been good, it’s only been 24 hours now since we’ve been here. But it’s been good—the rain is here, of course. A nice, cloudy, rainy day.

DEJ: I love it when it’s rainy in London— it’s my favorite! It’s so, you know, romantic and lovely when it rains.

Daisy, you are of course a born and bred London girl. It must be nice to be home. But you’ve lived in London before, haven’t you, Sebastian?

SS: Yeah! I was in London In 2003, when I did a year at the Globe Theatre; my college, Rutgers University, had a program at the Globe, so that was the first time I was here. In 2010, I basically lived here for a year do- ing Captain America: The First Avenger, and then I was in and out of London. And then in 2019, then the pandemic, and I lived here for another six months doing another project. So, I really do like it here.

Oh, so you’re basically a local with all of that experience.

SS: Almost.

DEJ: Practically a Londoner. He still hasn’t had a Sunday roast, though. That, to me, is shocking.

In all those years?

SS: I didn’t even know what that was—because usually Sundays, I keep to myself.

Right.

SS: And I was always in the hotel room crying.

Well, hopefully, you’ll have more than 24 hours on this trip, and it will include a Sunday. And a roast… So, sticking with the food theme, the subject at hand is your fantastic new film, Fresh, which I keep reading as “Flesh.” Is that just me?

DEJ: No, it’s not just you, actually, we’ve had a couple of people go, ‘I’m really excited to see Flesh!’ Well, you will see flesh in Fresh… perhaps not in the best way.

So, to Fresh. I watched it yesterday, and to be honest, I’m still kind of a bit traumatized. What was it like to work together on what is, let’s say, a very strange, post-modern ‘romance’?

SS: I guess it was bittersweet in some ways, right, because we had such a good time shooting it. We weirdly shot it chronologically, in the sense that we started it from the beginning of the story, and then… We were having so much fun kind of doing the scenes and finding the banter and the spontaneity of it, that we were always dreading the second half of the film coming at us. But we managed to keep going. Continue reading

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Published by Samantha

Published on Mar 23, 2022

Articles Fresh I Tonya Interviews Pam & Tommy Photos Press

Mar

Press: Sebastian Stan Opens Up About ‘Pam & Tommy,’ ‘Fresh,’ and ’90s Rom-Coms

lofficielusa.com — Sebastian Stan Opens Up About ‘Pam & Tommy,’ ‘Fresh,’ and ’90s Rom-Coms. In conversation with his former costar Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan shines a light on how he gets into character both physically and mentally, from roles like rock legend Tommy Lee to a charming psychopath in Fresh.

Sebastian Stan has lived many lives. From his breakout role as disgraced prep-school bad-boy Carter Baizen on Gossip Girl to Marvel’s Bucky Barnes, Stan has largely managed to fly under the radar. That is, until now. Starring as Mötley Cru?e drummer Tommy Lee in the hit Hulu series Pam and Tommy has planted Stan squarely in the spotlight. The miniseries, which also stars Lily James as Pamela Anderson, follows the untold story of the infamous sex tape seen ‘round the world, which was stolen and leaked during the wild early days of the Internet.

His latest role sees Stan explore the horrors of modern dating in Hulu release Fresh, where he stars alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones as Steve, a seemingly nice guy who is not at all what he seems. “The movie explores the idea of this hero complex, which fucks up all our relationships with each other; the idea that there’s a knight in shining armor that’s gonna come and save the day,” Stan says. “I’ve certainly fallen into the trap of wanting to be that strong guy who isn’t going to be vulnerable.”

Exclusively for L’OFFICIEL, Stan speaks with friend and former costar Margot Robbie about transforming himself for a role, on-set chemistry, and his favorite rom-coms.

— Sabrina Abbas

MARGOT ROBBIE: I’m gonna start way back at the beginning, when you were conceived—no, I’m joking, not that far. We physically met during the chemistry read for I, Tonya, but I had seen your tape before. I don’t know if I’ve told you this, but I didn’t recognize you at all. I think you were wearing a turtleneck and you may have even grown the ‘stache. I remember being like, “Wow, this actor is so good, who is this guy? He’s going to be such a find.” And then I looked you up and I was like, “Holy shit, it’s the hot guy from Gossip Girl and those Marvel movies!” Since then, I feel like you just keep transforming. I wanted to ask you about the more physical transformation, particularly when it comes to Pam and Tommy and Fresh. Is that something you find helpful?

SEBASTIAN STAN: I feel like the physical stuff always helps us, right? Because I’m such a self-conscious person with regard to my “Sebastianisms.” Having to morph into something that’s not really you is scary, but it stops me from judging myself.

MR: Do you wanna know a Sebastianism that I’ve noticed? You cover half your face with your hand when you laugh. I love it.

SS: [Laughs.] Yeah, I do do that. That’s also my favorite emoji, by the way.

MR: But I totally get what you’re saying. I feel like the less I look like myself and the less I sound like myself, the more separate I am from the character. That being said, what drives you to make the choices that you make? Even if I hadn’t worked with you, and I didn’t know you, I know I would be a fan of yours because of the risky characters you play and the projects you sign onto with so many first or second-time directors.

SS: This line of work takes a lot out of you, so I think it’s about finding something that you can really sink your teeth into so that you can justify the sacrifices you make. It’s funny, but a lot of the answers to these questions go back to I, Tonya. That experience honestly raised the bar for me. Between you and [the director] Craig Gillespie and the great script and amazing team—it was the first experience I had where I witnessed filmmaking as a machine. Working with you was a lightning bolt moment for me, because I realized I was at my best opposite strong women. I’ve gotten to work with Jessica Chastain and Julianne Moore and Lily James, and I feel like that’s my lane.

MR: It sounds like just a nice thing to say, but I’m only as good as the actors that I work with. When we did the I, Tonya chemistry reads, I tried not to get my hopes up about anyone in particular, but with you, one minute in and I was like, This is it! Did you get to do chemistry reads for Pam and Tommy or for Fresh? Or did you just get lucky and happen to have great chemistry with both costars?

SS: I didn’t. The script in Fresh had these ridiculous dance sequences, so I sent [the director] Mimi Cave this video of me in the kitchen—I took this huge steak knife and just started dancing to ‘80s music. So she saw that, and I guess that did it. Daisy Edgar-Jones had signed on to the project, and I knew, having seen her work, that she would be somebody that would anchor this thing and lead it in the right direction. I had never met Lily James before Pam and Tommy, not until Craig had Lily and me over to his house and he was like, “What’s up guys? Should we rehearse?”

MR: Fresh is so good. I’m actually a little bit glad that we’re doing this over Zoom because I’d be genuinely terrified to be in a room with you right now. I completely lost my head watching it, to be honest; it’s so brilliant and so fucked up.

SS: We were really lucky because everyone was very open to what Daisy and I wanted to do; we didn’t want to fall into anything gimmicky. It starts out like a romantic comedy, and you’re supposed to see that there’s a potential between the main characters, but the truth is this guy is sort of obsessed with her. That scene to me, where Daisy’s character wakes up strapped to his bed and is realizing what’s going on, everything shifts. You see her go from, Wait a minute, is this really happening? To, Oh, my God, it is happening. She grounds the movie from then on. We’ve been raised with this narrative that you’re going to meet someone who will instantly open up and understand you, and then you’ll be together for the rest of your lives. The movie’s a little bit of a commentary on that—how you fall for somebody because you’re starved for real connection, but is that person really who they say they are? Maybe we need to step back for a second and go, okay, I feel an intense thing here but let me just suss it out before—
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Published by Samantha

Published on Mar 22, 2022

Articles Interviews Pam & Tommy Photos Press

Jan

Press: ‘Pam & Tommy’ Stars Sebastian Stan, Lily James on Justice for Pamela Anderson, Internet Infamy and That Wild Talking Penis

Variety.com –Lily James and Sebastian Stan spent months working together on the set of Hulu’s “Pam & Tommy.” Yet when they recently reunited for a photo session it was a bit jarring to both actors.

“I barely met Sebastian out of Tommy Lee, and he barely met me out of my Pamela Anderson,” James says. “It was really surreal to do even the Variety shoot. We were like, ‘Oh, hey, so that’s what you look like!’”

That’s a testament to the amount of work James and Stan put into studying and emulating the real-life characteristics of Anderson and Lee — and just how well the production’s hair, makeup and wardrobe crews perfected their physical transformation. The look is so spot-on that when Hulu released the first photos of the “Pam & Tommy” stars in May, it quickly went viral on social media. “I was blown away,” Stan says. “The hair and makeup team deserve all the accolades that they can get.”

Of course, there’s a bit of irony to “Pam & Tommy” breaking the internet. In the series, which premieres Feb. 2, James and Stan play the “Baywatch” star and Mötley Crüe drummer as the couple meet, fall in love and then make a private recording that is ultimately stolen — becoming the first infamous viral video of a burgeoning online age.

The tape was shared and played at parties like it was contraband. Dubbed VHS copies spread across the world, as it was sold and traded on the then-brand-new World Wide Web. It later inspired a whole cottage industry of celebrity sex tapes, most of which were purposely leaked — unlike this one.

“I remember hearing about it as if it was like a Yeti,” says “Pam & Tommy” executive producer D.V. DeVincentis. “Like, you couldn’t necessarily assume it was true. It definitely had this sort of aura of a rumor, and something apocryphal. And then finally somebody put it in front of me and I saw it.”

And yet, there remain many misconceptions about what really happened, and who was really to blame. Over time, the actual story of the tape’s theft and how it victimized both Anderson and Lee — but at very different levels — has been lost to the memory of late-night punchlines and sophomoric snickering.

For the stars, producers and directors of “Pam & Tommy,” there was a sense that they were on a mission to correct that record — and in particular, perhaps find a little recompense for Anderson. “Pam & Tommy” is really three stories in one: a heist thriller retracing how the tape fell into the hands of a disgruntled construction worker; an unconventional love story about two celebrities whose relationship became more public than they ever could have imagined; and a societal critique on how the media, the justice system and the public all failed Pamela Anderson.

“It’s an important story, I think, from being able to understand what the impact of that media tornado really was,” says Stan. “For them as a couple but particularly for her as a woman. I can’t imagine what having a private home video stolen from you — how that wouldn’t impact a newlywed couple.”

“Pam & Tommy” is adapted from a 2014 Rolling Stone article by Amanda Chicago Lewis that finally told the true, although somewhat unbelievable, story of how the tape went public. Lewis managed to locate and extensively interview the man who pilfered the tape, Rand Gauthier — played in the series by Seth Rogen (who also executive produces) — and he revealed the implausible tale.

Gauthier, whose father memorably played Robin Hood in “When Things Were Rotten,” was an electrician working inside Lee’s Malibu estate until the rock star fired him and his team without pay. According to the article, when Gauthier returned to pick up his tools, Lee waved a shotgun in his face and refused to let him retrieve those items. That’s when the handyman, bent on revenge, hatched a preposterous scheme: He’d sneak onto the estate by wearing a fur rug over his back to make it look like the couple’s dog, then steal a safe hidden in their garage and drive it away in a rented U-Haul.

Somehow, the plan worked. Gauthier took the safe up into the mountains and found expensive watches, jewelry and guns — plus a mysterious Hi8 videocassette. After watching the tape, Gauthier, who had dabbled in adult films, figured he’d profit off his findings. He partnered with porn-producer pal Milton “Uncle Miltie” Ingley (played by Nick Offerman in “Pam & Tommy”) to find a buyer. Continue reading

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Published by Samantha

Published on Jan 19, 2022