Lily James Is Convinced She Will Never Be Able To Leave Pam Anderson Role In Her Past

Lily James transformed into Pamela Anderson and now she can’t “shake” it.

The actress turned heads when she revealed her look to play Pamela Anderson in the FX mini-series, Pam & Tommy. She wore a platinum blonde wig, prosthetic breasts, dentures, and a forehead prosthetic. She also perfected an American accent that she just couldn’t get rid of. James claimed that when everything was said and done and filming had wrapped, her life was “a wreck.”

She said her life is now “shot to s**t” after portraying Anderson for so long. Part of why she is so affected is because she used a variation of method acting. “The difference from me to her was too extreme to go back and forth. So, I had to stay in this middle no man’s land of like Lily/Pamela most of the time,” she shared with The Mirror.

It was to the point where she could take the wig off, she wouldn’t sometimes. On occasion, she “would totally slip into her voice.”

James shared that the process messed her on many levels, calling it “such a screwed-up process.” The actress constantly had to remind herself that it’s okay to be tired and down.

“You just have to be patient with yourself. The hours are so long and you feel really burnt out. Your nervous system is just like, shot to s---. I felt like a real wreck at the end of it.” Although filming has wrapped and the show has aired, James felt like she couldn’t “shake” Anderson’s persona.

The process took 4 hours to complete so we can see why the actress would hesitate after a long day of work to want to get out of all that makeup and intricately remove those prosthetics.

The actress told Vanity Fair in the summer that she couldn’t fully recognize herself sometimes. “It’s just insane to look in a mirror and really not see yourself anymore,” she explained. “It just meant that I felt so much braver. I had less of my own self-inflicted boundaries of what I am and how I perceived myself.”

While James struggled at first, now she feels like, “All gloves are off. I could just be anything,” she feels. Thankfully, all the hard work paid off. The series was lauded for the portrayals of the drummer Tommy Lee played by Sebastian Stan and James’ portrayal of Anderson.

The show was nominated for ten Emmys with the best actor for Stan and best-supporting actor for Seth Rogan. The show focuses on the sex tape that broke the internet before the internet could be broken.

Unlike Kim Kardashian’s successful career after her tape was released, Anderson’s career took a hit. While the public was fascinated by her and Lee’s personal life she wasn’t really booking roles any more roles and the press was tough on her.

James admits that while she hasn’t experienced that, she can see how this would put a damper on an actress's career. She feels lucky to have portrayed the blonde icon.