Anthony Mackie Reacts to Pal Sebastian Stan's Transformation into Tommy Lee: 'He Crushed It'

Anthony Mackie was initially hesitant about his costar Sebastian Stan taking on the role of rock star Tommy Lee.

Speaking with Variety at the 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards Sunday, Mackie, 42, reacted to his The Falcon and the Winter Soldier costar's transformation into Lee for the upcoming Hulu series Pam & Tommy.

"It's amazing," Mackie said of Stan's embodiment of Lee. "He sent me a video on set and a few photos and I was blown away. I was really surprised and impressed that he was able to do it. I was horrified [when he took the role]. I was like, 'What are you doing? You're playing Tommy Lee?' And the first picture he sent me, it's just humbling when you see your friend and he succeeds."

"He crushed it. I mean, he was really able to transform, and that's every actor's dream with every role you play," added Mackie, who won best duo with Stan at the MTV awards show for their Marvel Disney+ series.

"Sebastian is a great actor," he continued, "Him getting his just due and people getting to see him for the chameleon that he is — not just the beautifully amazing, blue-eyed god that he is — it's very refreshing to see your friend win."

RELATED: Sebastian Stan and Lily James Transform into Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson in First Look of Pam & Tommy

Manny Carabel/Getty Images; hulu

Want to get the biggest stories from PEOPLE every weekday? Subscribe to our new podcast, PEOPLE Every Day, to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.

Deadline reported in December that Lily James, 32, and Stan, 38, would star together as Pamela Anderson and Lee, respectively, with the eight-episode drama telling the story of the Hollywood couple's infamous leaked sex tape and the scandal that followed. The first official look at their physical transformations was released earlier this month.

Anderson, now 53, married Lee, now 58, one of the founders of Mötley Crüe, on a beach in Mexico in 1995 after dating for just four days. The couple, who divorced in 1998, share two sons, Brandon, 24, and Dylan, 23.

Anderson and Lee found themselves at the center of a scandal when a safe containing an almost-hourlong sex tape of the pair was stolen by a former disgruntled employee. Last year, Anderson described the infamous tape as "not a sex tape," but "a compilation of vacations that we were naked on."

At the time, Anderson tried to stop the video's release with a lawsuit, but it was eventually posted online, and the actress dropped the suit.