Pamela Anderson has been getting a moment with the series Pam & Tommy, based on the release of the infamous sex tape between the actress and her then-husband Tommy Lee. Anderson, however, aims to set the record straight with a new Netflix documentary detailing her life and career. Unlike Pam & Tommy, this project has the approval of Anderson.
Anderson announced the documentary on an Instagram post on Wednesday, March 2. In it she shared an image of a hand-written note that says “My life. A Thousand imperfections. A million misperceptions. Wicked, wild and lost. Nothing to live up to. I can only surprise you. Not a victim, but a survivor & alive to tell the real story.”
On its official blog, Netflix announced that the as yet untitled documentary will be directed by Ryan White (The Keepers) and offer “an intimate portrait embedded in the life of Pamela Anderson as she looks back at her professional and personal path and prepares for the next steps on her journey.” The documentary will include exclusive interviews with Anderson and never-before-seen archival footage and personal journals detailing her experiences in Hollywood and beyond.
Netflix did not provide any information on when it may release the Pamela Anderson documentary.
Many viewers are watching the Pam & Tommy limited series starring Lily James as Anderson and Sebastian Stan as Tommy Lee, which debuted its penultimate episode on March 2 and will release its finale on March 9 (on Hulu in the U.S., Disney Plus in the U.K.). Anderson is not one of them.
Though Pam & Tommy showrunner D.V. DeVincentis said the limited series was made with the goal of portraying Anderson as positively as possible, Anderson did not have any involvement in the show and apparently has no interest in ever watching it.
Even with the stated goal of giving a positive portrayal of Anderson, the show does have the kind of fact vs fiction elements that are typical of many based-on-a-true-story TV shows and movies — rearranging timelines, melding characters and putting hindsight onto certain situations.
As to whether the documentary is a kind of response to Pam & Tommy, according to The Wrap, the project has been in development “for several years.”
