Director Lake Bell Knows Firsthand What The Couple Went Through

Hotly debated differences of opinion continue to swirl around Hulu’s Pam & Tommy as the finale episode drops today.

The eight-episode mini-series, which is based on a 2014 Rolling Stone article, has been as controversial as the private sex tape that was stolen from Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s Malibu home in 1995 by disgruntled electrician, Rand Gauthier.

While many are focused on Lily James and Sebastian Stan’s exceptional performances and incredible transformations, others feel Anderson and Lee have been violated yet again with details of their lives exposed for the entertainment of strangers. Neither had any involvement in the series and there are stories online that Anderson, in particular, has so far refused to watch any of it, even the trailer.

What many may not realize is that for Lake Bell, who directed two of the eight episodes, this is personal. She understands firsthand the humiliation that Anderson and Lee felt. The same thing happened to her in 2014 when she was one of dozens of celebrities who had nude photos and videos leaked online in a hack dubbed “Celebgate.” Private photos from Bell’s wedding night were stolen from her iCloud and disseminated online.

For Bell, this series was a way of standing up for Anderson. “This was an opportunity to humanize someone who was exploited,” she said in a recent interview.

Since both scandals, the law has attempted to keep up with technology. Unlike Bell’s case, wherein a handful of perpetrators have since been charged with these crimes and sent to prison to serve nine-to-34-month sentences, Anderson and Lee saw no such justice. They were the first victims of online revenge porn but certainly not the last.

In Celebgate, more than 100 celebrities, including Jennifer Lawrence, Kaley Cuoco and Kate Upton, had their private nude images posted online without their consent. Many were outspoken at the time but for the most part, Bell has kept her feelings on the matter private until now.

Bell’s pain is real and it’s palpable in her voice when she talks about her experience. Instead of burying her feelings, she used them to direct two powerful episodes: No. 4 “The Master Beta” and No. 7 “Destroyer of Worlds.”

There’s always a delicate balance when creating a narrative around real-life events but this was made even more difficult due to the controversial subject matter of this particular story. For Bell, however, there is nothing but love and respect for Anderson and she felt protective of her.

“In this moment in Pam’s story, she felt like a caricature. It didn’t feel like these were real people,” says Bell. “They were treated like some kind of punchline and as I began working on this, I became acutely aware of and sensitive to this story in a personal way. And I felt like there was this opportunity to humanize Pam.”

Bell talked about how violated she felt when private photos from her wedding night were stolen from her iCloud and how she understands Anderson. “I feel a personal connection to the injustice Pam experienced. No one had the right to steal my photos either. I felt with Pam & Tommy that there was a real opportunity to humanize someone who was exploited. She was treated as though she wasn’t someone’s daughter, or sister, or mother. I think this is part of a larger issue with a patriarchal system that we’re still in the throes of. I felt that Pam was someone who was totally worthy of that kind of humanization. You know, there’s this great power and ferociousness in the way she handled herself and it was a great way to drive the narrative. We showed someone who is not a victim but is a fighter. That felt very personal to me and I felt very comfortable sharing this story. It was cathartic.”

As to the controversy and comments online, Bell says it’s been very interesting to read what Anderson and Lee’s fans have had to say as well as the viewers. “Diehard Pam fans say they won’t watch the series because it feels exploitative. There’s another group who have watched and see it’s a thoughtful and very human portrayal of a woman who was treated wrong. We show that Pam is not a victim, she’s a force of nature.”

Though she understands that it might be too painful for Anderson to watch the series and she respects her decision not to, Bell hopes that she might someday change her mind. “I do hope that someone in her trusted inner circle will tell her it’s actually ok and that there’s protection, love and grace in how we depicted her story.”

Anderson describes herself as a survivor and not a victim and though she had previously given up social media, she recently returned and announced on Instagram that she’s working on two projects: a documentary with Netflix about her life and she’s taking on the role of Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago starting April 12 for eight weeks.