Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Pam & Tommy, a revealing bio-drama miniseries about the colorful relationship and marriage of actress Pamela Anderson (Lily James) and Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee (Sebastian Stan), received a Golden Globe nod in the Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.
Created for Hulu by Robert Siegel (The Founder, The Wrestler), the show’s highlights include the challenging and chaotic time when the famous couple’s unauthorized honeymoon sex tape was stolen from their house and made public.
During that time, Anderson’s television career was at its peak with Baywatch, while Lee’s career was on the decline, as younger bands were on the rise.
In an interview with Creative Screenwriting, Siegel said, “The tape increased their fame as much as their infamy. It became a tool to inject adrenaline into one’s sagging career. This was certainly true for Tommy, but not for Pamela. This also speaks to our double standards of morality with gender.”
He added, “We put ourselves in our characters’ shoes in a situation they don’t fully understand. It’s like watching Christopher Columbus sail through unchartered waters. They didn’t know where this will go or how it would end. It’s a horror movie, and the internet is the monster lurking in the background.”
Based on the 2014 Rolling Stone article, “Pam and Tommy: The Untold Story of the World’s Most Infamous Sex Tape,” by Amanda Chicago Lewis, the series was filmed in Los Angeles between April and July 2021.
Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl, Fright Night, I, Tonya, Cruella) directed the first three episodes of the series which premiered on February 2, 2022. Also included in the cast are Seth Rogen as Rand Gauthier who comes to possess the couple’s sexually explicit home video, Taylor Schilling and Nick Offerman.
In an interview with IndieWire, the Sydney-born director said, “The tone was incredibly clear to me and that’s something I always look for when searching for something to work on. If I can visualize it while I’m reading [the script], half the job is done.”
The 55-year-old filmmaker, who is also known for helming commercials, pointed out that the second episode was full of chaos, including several wild nights in Cancun where Lee ends up talking to his penis and convinces himself that he is in love with Anderson.
Gillespie revealed, “As crazy as the episode gets, it really was critical to get the connection and humanity between them. On the page, it was a little bit foreboding when people are playing drunk or high, you sort of get a little disassociated at times, but we really wanted to have that chemistry between them. Lily and Sebastian were amazing at finding that.”
The sizzling series received 10 Primetime Emmy Award nominations. At the Golden Globes, the series’ leads also earned nominations: Lily James, Best Actress – Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture; Sebastian Stan, Best Actor – Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture; and Seth Rogen, Best Supporting Actor – Television Limited Series/Motion Picture.