Most people who lived through the 90s are familiar with one of the most infamous sex tapes of all time. The X-rated video made “Baywatch” star Pamela Anderson and Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee more famous than ever, but not everyone realizes that the true story behind the tape is almost too weird to be true.
The tape’s distribution and aftermath is explored in a highly anticipated new limited series coming to Hulu called “Pam & Tommy.” The creators and actors recently discussed the project with Variety, and talked about why they felt this story was important to tell.
Actor Sebastian Stan, who plays Lee, thought the subject matter was crucial. “It’s an important story, I think, from being able to understand what the impact of that media tornado really was,” Stan told Variety. “For them as a couple but particularly for her as a woman. I can’t imagine what having a private home video stolen from you — how that wouldn’t impact a newlywed couple.”
Plenty of people believe that Lee and Anderson had something to do with the tape’s release, perhaps as a way to make themselves more famous, but in reality, it got released in the strangest way. The Hulu series is based on a 2014 Rolling Stone article by Amanda Chicago Lewis that finally revealed the origins of the sex tape.
Apparently, Rand Gauthier (played in the series by Seth Rogen) was an electrician who did work in Lee’s Malibu home. The drummer refused to pay for the services and when Gauthier returned for his tools, Lee brandished a gun and chased him off. So, the worker hatched a plan to sneak into the house wearing a fur rug that would make him look like the couple’s dog on the security camera. Then, he stole a safe out of the garage that was filled with guns, jewelry, and a sex tape that would change the world.
Gauthier teamed up with a porn producer to get the video distributed and make money off it, but no one was buying because it was stolen. So he headed to a new space called the world wide web and started selling it via a barebones website. His plan to profit on the content was ultimately foiled by people making their own copies for free. But in distributing the tape, the jilted electrician altered Lee and Anderson’s lives forever.
The series will explain what happened and how it was harder for Anderson than for Lee to deal with the publicity.
“There’s nothing weirder than truth,” TV exec Sue Naegle told Variety. “The actual heist is so strange. But we also all looked at it and [had] the idea that there was a different way to look at this story through a 2022 lens versus how people might have felt in the ’90s.”
“The opportunity was to tell something that was emotional and funny and true and hard,” she continued. “There was an unfair cultural response in the ’90s. It bothered me then. And I think the chance to tell the story and to get people to see and understand how it was nobody’s business, it was nobody’s right.”
“Pam & Tommy” is making waves thanks to early photos, which show Stan and Lily James (who plays Anderson) looking so much like the real couple it’s scary. “I was blown away,” Stan says. “The hair and makeup team deserve all the accolades that they can get.”
The limited series “Pam & Tommy” will be available on Hulu starting February 2.
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Source: Dailywire