Lake Bell has said the leaking of her nude photos in 2014 impacted how she directed episodes of Pam And Tommy.
The actress, best known for roles in No Strings Attached, It’s Complicated and What Happens In Vegas, steps behind the camera for two episodes of the new series about the leaking of the infamous sex tape featuring Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee.
Bell said she drew on her own experiences for her turn in the director’s chair, as she was among the stars who had nude photos leaked online in 2014.
The hack, which also targeted Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton, saw hundreds of personal images shared online.
Bell told US website Insider: “It was an unreal tsunami in the industry for private property being stolen by a hacking, and I was one of those people.
“I remember having to talk to an FBI recovering agent for a week or so about that property being stolen and it was so humiliating, and for me, it was so personal.”
When she was approached about directing episodes of Pam And Tommy, which stars Lily James and Sebastian Stan as the eponymous couple, she said memories came flooding back, adding: “Lily and I just connected about it and it became about how do we take this story and do it justice by not allowing for exploitation to yet again be the focal point.
“Reading through the series, I realized this is shockingly intelligent in its way of addressing exploitation while allowing for the viewer to laugh and enjoy.
“The disorientation that Pam Anderson felt when her stuff went viral, which wasn’t even the word at the time, I just have that knowledge.
“When I got hacked I went, ‘F***!’ It feels gross.”
She continued: “I can only speak to my own experience of the exploitation of my own personal property, and so I just kind of connected through that.”
New episodes of Pam And Tommy are released on Disney+ every Wednesday.