Cinderella and Bucky Barnes are breaking very, very bad.
Lily James and Sebastian Stan have infiltrated social media with a series of elaborate recreations of iconic, gleefully trashy photos of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee. It's slightly shocking to see James — the typically star of the Disney live-action fairytale — as the former Baywatch centerfold and Marvel's Winter Soldier tatted up as Mötley Crüe drummer. But the steady parade of straight-outta-Madame Tussauds' imagery of their jaw-dropping transformation is fueling anticipation for Hulu's upcoming Pam & Tommy series.
Anyone who knows the story of the highly tabloid-ized couple knows that the photos are just a glimpse of the salaciousness to come. Here's the dirt on the increasingly raunchy looking Pam & Tommy.
What exactly is Pam & Tommy about?
Hair rockers Mötley Crüe were already the subject of a critically derided 2019 Netflix biopic, The Dirt, but Pam & Tommy isn't necessarily a Mötley Crüe biopic. In fact, the subject of the limited series is something that made Lee infamous well after his hair-metal band's heyday of the '80s: A celebrity sex tape.
More specifically, the celebrity sex tape — long before Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian became the victims of leaked home videos, Anderson and Lee decided to record their 1995 Honeymoon. The two married after knowing one another for a scant 96 hours.
The tape was subsequently stolen by an extremely disgruntled electrician who swiped the Lee's safe, then leaked on the internet, the first high-profile instance of an intimate moment between celebrities being leaked on the fledgling internet, opening the rest of the world to the more sordid possibilities of life online and making an astonishing $77 million (estimated), according to Rolling Stone.
The eight-episode series will follow the couple's whirlwind courtship and the aftermath of the tape's release, which involves biker gang, private detectives, landmark litigation, the mob and lots of sex and drugs. Whether the show, unlike The Dirt, will touch on the allegations of abuse by Lee remains to be seen, and there's no word on whether the saga of Anderson's video with Poison's Bret Michaels.
Neither Anderson nor Lee consulted on the series.
Who else is in Pam & Tommy
In addition to James and Stan, Seth Rogen will appear in a primary leading role as Rand Gauthier, the former adult star-turned electrician who stole the tape. Rogen, similarly if less-glamorously transformed, is also producing the series alongside Evan Goldberg.
Initially, James Franco was on board to produce, though the actor dropped out some time ago, despite an outdated IMDB page that led actress Charlyne Yi to accuse Rogen of backpedaling on his commitment to no longer work with the disgraced Franco.
The series will also feature Nick Offerman, Taylor Schilling and Andrew Dice Clay.
Who is directing?
Stan is reuniting with director Craig Gillespie for Pam & Tommy. The two previously worked together on the Oscar-winning I, Tonya, which also featured Stan playing against type as Tonya Harding's then-husband, who was convicted of clubbing Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan's knee in order to give Harding an advantage.
Gillespie is currently riding high on the success of the Disney origin story Cruella, making his pivot over to the seedy story of Pam & Tommy all the more jarring. He previously directed Lars and the Real Girl and the Fright Night remake.
“She’s blown me away, the homework that she’s done. It’s incredibly nerve-racking to be playing an iconic character, and not make it just be an impersonation. To get to a deeper level, & inhabit the character, & hopefully give it humanity, empathy, & she’s absolutely killing it.” pic.twitter.com/G6kw2Epxau
When will Pam & Tommy debut?
The series is currently filming and no release date has been set. But keep an eye on social media for even more eye-popping celebrity cosplay from James and Stan.
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