Sebastian Stan certainly picks interesting and challenging projects these days. He joins me for this week’s edition of my Deadline video series The Actor’s Side where we discuss his decision to play Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee as he falls hard for Baywatch star Pamela Anderson and gets immersed in a marriage and sex-tape scandal that dominated the mid-1990s tabloid headlines.

As Stan tells me this isn’t the first time he has taken on the troubled life and times of a real person — he also talks about playing Jeff Gillooly who engineered the infamous Tonya Harding ice-skating scandal in the acclaimed film I, Tonya — but admits this one really brought out his insecurities. He said every week leading up to shooting gave him nightmares, but once they were fully into the transformation (and thanks especially to a game hair and makeup team) it became more comfortable.

Of course it is never that comfortable when you have to wear a talking prosthetic penis, get tattooed like there is no tomorrow, and be completely convincing as an iconic rocker who plays the drums. Stan pulls it all off though and describes every detail. We also get into his current film, also on Hulu, saying Fresh has its own set of challenges, but one he was eager to take on.

And you can’t talk to Sebastian Stan without getting the latest on the Winter Soldier himself aka Bucky Barnes. Stan has appeared in about nine different projects for Marvel where he plays that character, most recently the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and he fills us in on whether he has any plans for more.

To watch our conversation click on the video above, and join me every Wednesday during Emmy season for another edition of The Actor’s Side.