Sebastian Stan fans are losing it over the 'talking penis' scene in Pam & Tommy

4 February 2022, 16:09

Sebastian Stan and Lily James transform into Pam & Tommy in new series

By Katie Louise Smith

"Sebastian Stan having a full on conversation with a full frontal penis was not in my 2022 bingo cards but here we are."

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Sebastian Stan's animatronic, talking, prosthetic penis has stolen the show in Hulu's new Pam & Tommy series. (There's a sentence I never thought I'd write.)

Pam & Tommy retells the story of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee during the time their private sex tape was stolen and leaked to the public. The show faced a series of criticisms ahead of its release, mostly centring around the fact that Pamela herself was not involved, nor did she consent to the show being made.

Despite the backlash, the show holds an 81% fresh critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes and fans are, so far, enjoying the first three episodes.

Due to the subject matter, viewers were expecting quite a bit of on-screen nudity, but what they were not expecting was the very, very bold scene involving Sebastian Stan's Tommy talking to his genitalia – and it talking back to him.

Sebastian Stan has a talking penis in Pam & Tommy. Picture: Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty Images, Hulu

Pam & Tommy episode 2 features a scene where a fully nude Tommy Lee stands in front of a full length mirror and has a conversation with his penis. The penis, voiced by Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Parks & Rec actor Jason Mantzoukas, also moves and talks back to him. (Truly one of the most bizarre nude scenes to air on TV in recent years.)

The scene is extremely full frontal (like... extremely), and fans were absolutely flabbergasted at what they were seeing on screen.

sebastian stan having a full on conversation with a full frontal penis (that talks back) was not in my 2022 bingo cards but here we are. #PamAndTommy
— Frosted Bubberd ❄️ (@Bubberd) February 2, 2022

In #PamAndTommy there's literally a 5 minutes long dialogue between Sebastian Stan and his puppeteered 11 inch prosthetic penis... Why did I watch it 3 times? pic.twitter.com/aBdymHIg2p
— NATENEUTRALITY (@NATENEUTRALITY) February 2, 2022

i was not prepared to see sebastian stan talk to his penis and i was even more not prepared to see his penis respond
— des 💋🔪 (@RebelCreators) February 3, 2022

i didn’t need to see sebastian stan have an imaginary conversation with his animate dick but i did see that. i did
— slime cat (@SirIssacGluten) February 2, 2022

The idea for the scene actually came from Tommy Lee's memoir, Tommyland, where his penis is a character in the book. showrunner D.V. DeVincentis explained to Entertainment Weekly.

Despite some pushback, the scene was eventually approved. And that approval sounds like it had a lot to do with the use of a prosthetic. (No, that is not Sebastian Stan's real life junk.)

"If we were showing full-frontal male nudity, that would be a different issue, but it's almost so silly that it makes it maybe less [of an issue]," said showrunner Rob Siegel. "I can't think of a more fun and cuddly way to get away with extended full-frontal male nudity. It's a puppet, it's like Yoda."

Sebastian Stan trasnforms into Tommy Lee in Hulu's Pam & Tommy. Picture: Hulu

In order to achieve the desired affect, the show used a completely prosthetic appendage with a combination of CGI and animatronic puppetry: "We had a guy build us an animatronic talking dick and they strapped it on Sebastian, and I hope to God we got behind-the-scenes footage of that day."

"There were wires running between his legs from behind, and a guy crouched on the floor with joy sticks, mechanically controlling what's going on," DeVincentis explained. "That animatronic guy had to look in a mirror and sort of really act with Sebastian physically, like all the gestures and the nods and looks up, and we had to actually direct that. I've never done anything quite like that."