Lily James took four hours to transform into Pamela Anderson for Pam & Tommy

3 February 2022, 14:48

Lily James talks about playing Pamela Anderson in Pam & Tommy

By Sam Prance

Lily James wore fake eyebrows, a prosthetic forehead and prosthetic breasts for the role.

Pam & Tommy's makeup department have revealed that it took FOUR hours to transform Lily James into Pamela Anderson.

Yesterday (Feb 2), the first three episodes of Pam & Tommy debuted on Hulu. The controversial new miniseries tells the story of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's marriage and how the unauthorised leak of their sex tape affected their relationship. The show has received rave reviews, however, it's also faced backlash because it was made without Pamela's consent.

Lily James plays Pamela and Sebastian Stan plays Tommy and both stars have been praised for their performances. In fact, many people are saying that Lily looks like the spitting image of Pamela and now the team behind Pam & Tommy have revealed exactly how Lily transformed into the iconic actress, including all of the prosthetics they used to perfect the look.

Lily James took four hours to transform into Pamela Anderson for Pam & Tommy
Lily James took four hours to transform into Pamela Anderson for Pam & Tommy. Picture: Mike Marsland/WireImage, TCD/Prod.DB / Alamy Stock Photo

Speaking to Harper's Bazaar about how they managed to recreate Pamela's face, Pam & Tommy makeup department head David Williams said: "We went through approximately 65 to 70 foreheads throughout shooting." He revealed that they used prosthetic foreheads with Pamela's signature thin arched eyebrows so that they wouldn't have to pluck Lily's own.

David also confirmed that Lily wore prosthetic breasts for the role and that, when she was wearing "full prosthetics" for the role, "the transformation could take up to four hours each day." He continued to say: "Everything about her is iconic. We wanted to make sure we hit that nail on the head."

Lily James took four hours to transform into Pamela Anderson for Pam & Tommy (2)
Lily James took four hours to transform into Pamela Anderson for Pam & Tommy (2). Picture: TCD/Prod.DB / Alamy Stock Photo

Hair department head Barry Lee Moe revealed that Lily required "four wigs expert colouring and a lineup of stellar haircare product." He said: "So much of Pam’s look is timeless, but also very, very ‘90s. Her haircut was always super layered and textured. Using all the tools in our respective departments, we were really able to take it to that classic ‘90s look."

He added: "Lily’s performance was spot on, and the look of it all—if you look at videos side by side, it’d be hard to determine which was which. That means we succeeded. It was fun to see."

Opening up about the transformation on Jimmy Kimmel, Lily said: "It was the biggest challenge. When they asked me, I said, 'Have you seen me? This is crazy.' But I studied her. I love her."

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