Lily James Reached Out to Pamela Anderson About Portraying Her in 'Pam & Tommy'

Lily James wanted to do right by Pamela Anderson when portraying her in Hulu's upcoming miniseries, Pam & Tommy. The show looks back at Anderson and rocker Tommy Lee's whirlwind romance, including their 1995 wedding on the beach in Mexico after knowing each other for only 96 hours and the private sex tape from their honeymoon that was made public and watched by millions without their consent.

In the recent cover story for Net-a-Porter's Porter, James says she attempted to contact Anderson about the project but never got a response.

"I was really hopeful that she would be involved. I wish it had been different," James tells the publication. "My sole intention was to take care of the story and to play Pamela authentically."

James says she remained "hopeful" that she'd be able to speak with Anderson right up until they started shooting, noting that Pam & Tommy is a series she "cares a lot about."

While the 32-year-old actress wasn't able to get ahold of Anderson, her co-star, Sebastian Stan, did in fact reach Lee, whom he plays in the miniseries. The Motley Crüe rocker told ET in September that he fully supported the 39-year-old actor's portrayal of him.

"I know Sebastian, he's playing me. From what he's told me, really beautiful story," Lee, 59, shared. "I think a lot of people would think it's one thing, but it's really about privacy and how things got crazy then. There's different laws now." 

Though he's looking forward to the upcoming miniseries, Lee, who divorced Anderson in 1998, admitted to ET that the situation in real life was tough. "The story's actually cool, what actually happened wasn't," he said, adding that "people need to know" what occurred. 

ET also spoke with Stan about the "crazy process" of transforming into Lee. "I think it took two hours for myself and then three hours for Lily almost every morning," he recalled. "Then you pile that on to a 12-hour day and it just definitely gets interesting by the end."

The first three episodes of Pam & Tommy, also starring Seth Rogen, Nick Offerman, Taylor Schilling, Andrew Dice Clay, Pepi Sonuga, Spencer Granese and Mozhan Marnò, will premiere Wednesday, Feb. 2 on Hulu.

For more of ET's exclusive interview with Stan, watch the video below.

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