Lily James and Sebastian Stan turned heads with their impeccable transformations for Hulu’s Pam & Tommy, uncannily resembling the celebrity couple for the Hulu miniseries. After much anticipation, the show is finally streaming on Hulu, offering an entertaining and thought-provoking take on the sex tape scandal that rocked the entertainment industry. James in particular has earned praise for her performance as Pamela Anderson.

As Pam & Tommy makes its long-awaited debut, Screen Rant spoke with the two stars about their experience on the show, what the series has to say about how we treat celebrities, and much more.

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Screen Rant: One of the most just incredible things, I’m sure everyone is saying it, is the transformation that you two made into Pam and Tommy. How did you react the first time you saw yourselves, then each other in full hair, wardrobe, makeup? 

Sebastian Stan: First of all, there was this huge lead-up to it. It was October 2021 when I got a call from Craig Gillespie about doing it and you, [Lily], had been already set for it. So it felt like four months of this lead up to, “How are we going to get there? Are we going to look like these people or not?” And then the first day, we had this photo session kind of screen test, camera test. And that was it, the first time and it was like, “Wow. The hair and makeup team really brought it.”

Lily James: And Kami [Lennox], our designer who just got the coolest vintage clothes, and everything felt like, literally, it might have been taken out of their closets. It felt so authentic and it was really great. We did all these test shots by these great cars. I wanted to remember the car. I can’t remember what kind of car it was.

I mean, as someone who watches you, Lily, almost every single day in Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again. I was like, Where is Lily James?

Lily James: I didn’t speak in my own accent for like four months. So when I started speaking like me, it was really shocking. I was like, “Oh!” I forgot. I suddenly sounded really proper and English.

Growing up in the 90s, Pam and Tommy were on every magazine cover. It was a super sensational time in how we consumed celebrity culture. What do you hope the conversation becomes, as a result of this series?

Lily James: I think, definitely, the show is asking us to look at our own culpability and how we are perpetuating that obsessive celebrity culture, or internet culture, these viral videos. To us, to look at these people, we’re all people, and how it’s impacting on our own lives, not even in celebrity culture, but the ways in which we are consciously giving out our lives and sharing our lives and getting feedback and this whole sort of obsessive validation world. It’s kind of really distressing. And how we look at privacy, and how we treat women versus men. It’s just there’s a whole lot to sort of explore and try and improve upon you know.

I mentioned this, but I have to ask you. I know this is kind of above your control, but what do we need to do to make Mamma Mia 3 happen? 

Lily James: I’m desperate for it to happen. It was like, it didn’t feel real. It was so fun just singing on the beach and on a boat. I don’t know. Why isn’t it happening? We all need it. It’s been COVID. It’s been terrible. Let’s do Mamma Mia.

We need it, please.

Lily James: Please! But only If I’m in it. They probably won’t have me. It’ll probably be like, Sophie’s baby. Anyway! Let’s stop talking about it.

No, you have to be in it. You’re a gem.

Lily James: [Points to Sebastian] You should come and be in it!

No wait, wait, I just remembered this. I talked to you, Sebastian, like two years ago and you said you had never seen Mamma Mia. Has that changed?

Sebastian Stan: It has changed. Lily doesn’t know that I went through her entire filmography at the end of 2020. We actually came close to this one movie too, but anyway, yeah, I’ve seen it.

Pam & Tommy is now streaming on Hulu.

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Ash Crossan
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Ash Crossan is a Lead Content Producer & Host for Screen Rant. With nearly a decade of experience under her belt, Ash joined Screen Rant in 2021 as a lead interviewer. Based in Los Angeles, Ash is a fan of all things Star Wars, Marvel, DC, 90s Nickelodeon and rom-coms. Follow Ash on Twitter: @AshCrossan.

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