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Sebastian Stan says having to lose weight for Pam & Tommy affected his body dysmorphia

10 March 2022, 16:34

Sebastian Stan and Lily James transform into Pam & Tommy in new series

By Jazmin Duribe

"I was just running and trying to get 20,000 steps a day, and then I was fasting for 16 to 18 hours a day."

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Sebastian Stan has opened up about the impact losing weight for Pam & Tommy had on his body dysmorphia.

Now, you probably know and love Sebastian for his role as the incredibly shredded Bucky Barnes or The Winter Soldier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But to play Mötley Crüe's Tommy Lee in Hulu's Pam & Tommy, Sebastian had to undergo a complete physical transformation, which included shifting some pounds.

The Fresh actor said the intense process of losing weight, which involved fasting and not working out to lose his muscle as quickly as possible, actually had a dramatic effect on him.

Sebastian Stan says having to lose weight for Pam & Tommy affected his body dysmorphia. Picture: Alamy, Hulu via Alamy

He told Entertainment Weekly: "I was trying to lose weight and I still felt I didn't lose enough weight and people were telling me I was crazy and going, 'You have body dysmorphia now' – which I always did anyway.

"I was just running and trying to get 20,000 steps a day, and then I was fasting for 16 to 18 hours a day and that definitely does something, especially if you're [driving] in traffic. But I'm proud of the whole thing."

Speaking about his personal experience with body dysmorphia (a mental health condition where a person spends a lot of time worrying about flaws in their appearance) Sebastian added: "Anybody that even has a healthy physique to some extent has body dysmorphia because once you're going into a peak, the best look possible, which by the way, I don't care what they say, unless there's like, magic formulas out there – which there are but some of us are not in that pocket – our body can only be at peak 100 percent for like maybe a week or something.

"At least, how I've experienced it; and I mean diet and exercise and tanning and water and lighting and everything. And then you spend the rest of the time going, 'I'm not what I used to be.' But it's just all in the head."

Lily James and Sebastian Stan in Pam & Tommy. Picture: Hulu via Alamy

Sebastian went on to say that when director Craig Gillespie called him to offer him the part, he initially thought he wouldn't be able to do the role justice, partly because of his physique. And although losing weight was "difficult" for Sebastian, he doesn't regret taking the role.

He continued: "The physical transformation is a very important part to the acting process, and whether it's him or a fictional character, I look for those things because I get tired of myself. I do!

"I don't want to do the same thing over and over again. I know my Sebastian-isms and the things that I do so I like to be challenged. And the physical aspect of it, whether it's losing weight or gaining weight or changing hair color, it shifts perspective."