‘Pam and Tommy’: Sebastian Stan’s Full Frontal Scene Featured a Penis Puppet; ‘It’s Like Yoda’
Hulu‘s Pam and Tommy didn’t hold back when it came to Sebastian Stan baring it all as Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee. In episode 2, there’s a talking penis scene that has fans, well, talking. While Pam and Tommy is about actual events, the scripted series takes certain liberties, like bringing Tommy Lee’s penis to life with the voice of Jason Mantzoukas. Here’s how they made the hilarious scene happen.
Tommy Lee’s memoir inspired the penis scene in ‘Pam and Tommy’
In episode 2, Tommy Lee has a conversation with his penis about wanting to marry Pam. Believing she’s “the one,” Tommy argues with his member, who wants to continue the one-night-stand lifestyle going. In the scene, the penis moves on its own as if it were a friend of the Mötley Crüe drummer.
According to showrunner Rob Siegel, the idea came from Lee’s memoir Tommyland. “His penis is a character in the book,” Siegel told Entertainment Weekly. “Throughout the book, he has these, I presume imaginary but maybe not, exchanges between himself and his d***.” Siegel and D.V. DeVincentis compared those passages to “Tommy’s id” rather than “a sentient organ” and ran with it for the series.
The talking penis was a ‘puppet; it’s like Yoda’
As Siegel explained to Entertainment Weekly, “That’s not actually Sebastian Stan’s d***.” Full-frontal male nudity would have been a different issue, but he says the scene is “almost so silly that it makes it maybe less [of an issue].”
“I can’t think of a more fun and cuddly way to get away with extended full-frontal male nudity,” he continued. “It’s a puppet, it’s like Yoda.”
The penis was created by Autonomous FX and operated by Mike McCarty and Dave Snyder. “From the start, we always wanted it to be an animatronic d***,” Siegel elaborated.
“Most of these sentences have never been uttered. But we had a guy build us an animatronic talking d*** and they strapped it on Sebastian, and I hope to God we got behind-the-scenes footage of that day.”
DeVincentis, Pam and Tommy‘s other showrunner, added: “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. 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.”
Stan’s days of acting on Marvel sets where things aren’t really there definitely helped him in this scene. “You’d never know this was his first rodeo with a talking d***,” Siegel concluded. “It was effortless.”
Prosthetics are popular in ‘Pam and Tommy’
Lily James and Stan play famous couple Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee in Pam and Tommy. The Hulu series recounts the infamous sex tape Rand Gauthier (Seth Rogen) stole from the couple and uploaded to the internet.
British actor Lily James completely transformed with the help of prosthetics and makeup to play the blonde Baywatch babe. From her eyebrows to her teeth and a prosthetic breastplate, James’ transformation had Stan convinced.
“It’s really wild, with Lily, because the first time I saw her as herself was actually at the end of the shoot five months later,” the Marvel Cinematic Universe star told Entertainment Tonight. “I was like, ‘Who are you?’ That’s when we actually formally met.”
The Bucky Barnes actor also underwent a bit of a transformation to become Tommy Lee, who he bears an uncanny resemblance to in the series. “I think it took two hours for myself and then three hours for Lily almost every morning,” he elaborated of his time in the makeup chair. “They deserve whatever awards that are given. We couldn’t have done it without them.”
New episodes of Pam and Tommy air Wednesdays on Hulu.
