In what could be a stroke of cinematic genius, Pam & Tommy will feature Sebastian Stan having a heart to heart with a talking penis… voiced by Jason Mantzoukas.
It could be a first for a Hulu series, but – with the utmost respect – if anyone is going to voice an animatronic penis, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place, and Big Mouth‘s Mantzoukas is the ideal casting choice.
The scene, in the show’s second episode, is adapted from Lee’s memoir, Tommyland.
As showrunner Robert Siegel told Variety: “As much as I’d like to take credit for that, I was simply adapting a chapter from [Lee’s] memoir. I think it might be a first [for television].”
Although there was some hesitation initially, they managed to get it over the line.
“There was gentle pushback, because you’ve got to push back a little when a talking penis is presented to you,” he said. “But Hulu was extremely supportive.”
Director Craig Gillespie described shooting the scene as “just awkward”.
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“You’ve got four puppeteers working with an animatronic penis,” he said.
“And then, how much is too much, and do you start to lose his emotional torment of what’s going on? Hopefully it works.”
Actor Sebastian Stan, who plays Tommy Lee, told Variety he approached the scene as he would with any other acting partner.
“By the end of it, I treated it like it was an intimate buddy conversation that one might have when they’re falling in love,” he said.
Pam & Tommy is in part adapted from a 2014 article in Rolling Stone by Amanda Chicago Lewis, which detailed how the now-infamous sex tape went public based on an interview with Rand Gauthier, the man who pilfered the tape.
Seth Rogen – who co-produced Pam & Tommy – plays Gauthier in the series.
“Most people who are acting badly are doing so from a very simple place,” Rogen said of his character.
“I wanted to play Rand as someone who has very little going on in his head. Someone whose ultimately evil acts aren’t done out of some amazing and deep thought process, but actually out of a complete lack of thinking and caring about how his actions would affect other people.”
Watch the latest ‘Pam & Tommy’ trailer:
