Taylor Schilling reflects on the aftermath of Hulu’s Pam & Tommy
“My character is a small grace note to the show, but is a counterbalance to Pam, who is being exploited and isn’t in charge of her own narrative”
Hulu’s contentious biographical miniseries Pam & Tommy takes apart an infamous scandal that rocked Hollywood in the ’90s. The drama sheds light on how Pamela Anderson (Lily James) was targeted by the media and public when her sex tape with husband Tommy Lee (Sebastian Stan) was stolen and released without their approval. The tape’s viral fame—when the word viral didn’t even exist in the context of the internet—derailed the Baywatch actor’s career.
Pam & Tommy, which airs its finale on March 9, poignantly tries to handle the plight of its lead. But the show mishandles a fictional redemption arc for Rand Gauthier (Seth Rogen), Lee’s disgruntled contractor who sold the tape. The only light at the end of this specific story is Erica (Taylor Schilling), Rand’s former partner. Schilling’s arc on the show is mostly limited to her interactions with Rogen, but she delivers exceptionally.
Schilling tells The A.V. Club that her role is “a small grace note to the show, but is a counterbalance to Pam, who is being exploited and isn’t in charge of her own narrative.” Erica is a porn star and sex worker. While not much is known about her real-life counterpart, Erica made over 80 porn films and then went on to direct as well. “Her confidence helped me key into the character,” Schilling adds. “The writers were really clear on who she should be on the show. That was a great resource for me.”
Erica champions Rand’s “new business venture” without realizing where his income is coming from—the sales from Anderson and Lee’s sex tape. In the penultimate hour, he confesses the truth to his ex-wife. Erica attacks him, guns blazing, throwing Rand out of her house while furiously yelling at him about consent. “She can stand up for Pam so clearly because of her own experiences,” Schilling told The A.V. Club.
Pam & Tommy also brought to surface the conversation around obsessive celebrity culture, paparazzi, and the invasion of privacy. All of these issues have only gotten worse in the last two decades thanks to social media. The situations in the show, specifically how Anderson and Lee’s marriage unravels because of intense scrutiny from the world, are tackled wisely through a 2022 lens. It attempts to lend empathy to someone who deserved but certainly didn’t receive it.
Much like her on-screen persona, Schilling is passionate about the subject as well. “I think it’s interesting to see how this scandal, but it’s really a crime, has had a direct impact on the celeb culture we deal with today, it set a sort of weird precedent,” the Orange Is The New Black actor says about any potential takeaways from Pam & Tommy. “Regardless of being in the public eye, the potential exists for all of us to be violated. Nothing is off-limits.”