For a long time, her role in Hollywood was limited to that of a sex symbol. With The Last Showgirlthe new film by Gia Coppola, the 57-year-old actress offers herself her first real major role in the cinema.
In her low-cut swimsuitAlert in Malibu, Pamela Anderson had become a sex symbol, marking the imagination of the 1990s. Glamorous makeup, revealing outfit and magazine cover Playboythe actress has long cultivated her image to build her career. At 57, the American-Canadian star is moving on to other exercises with The Last Showgirl which propelled her into the race for the Golden Globes, in the “best dramatic actress” category.
Presented in September during the Toronto International Film Festival, The Last Showgirlthe new film by Gia Coppola, the granddaughter of Francis Ford Coppola, offers Pamela Anderson her first real major film role. She plays Shelley, a fifty-year-old dancer from Las Vegas, faced with the unknown when the show that had employed her for 30 years abruptly closes. “I feel like I went from Baywatch to Broadway. I don’t know what happened in the meantime, it’s a big blur. I’m just happy to be here, at this moment, because I think I’ve been suffering from depression for a few decades »she declared to Variety in October.
Cover recordist Playboy
For decades, her role in Hollywood was limited to that blonde vamp, running on the beach in slow motion. In 1996, she tried to reinvent herself by taking on a leading role in Barb Wire and plays a tough, independent and defiant heroine. With mediocre direction and caricatured dialogue, the film is a dismal failure. Result: Role offers are rare. In the 2000s, she appeared mainly in minor productions which exploited her hypersexualized image. During this time, his private life was in the spotlight in the celebrity press. In 2015, she appeared for the fourteenth time on the front page of Playboycreated in 1953 by Hugh Hefner. She has since held the record for the number of covers of the magazine.
Also read
Pamela Anderson goes to war against porn
PETER KRAMER / Getty Images via AFP
Since 2018, Pamela Anderson has gradually moved away from the big screen to become an active voice on the political and activist scene, notably defending animal rights. In 2023, she produced her self-portrait, without taboo, in a documentary co-produced by one of her sons and broadcast on Netflix. Pamela Anderson then closes a contrasting chapter in her life. After the documentary was broadcast, the new face of the actress inspired Gia Coppola. « I was able to see this artist so creative and so competent in art and philosophy, and her way of approaching life »declares the director in an interview with the American news site Indiewire . « I could see that she was a fearless person. I really wanted to collaborate with her »she adds.
Almost sixty, the woman who returned to live in Canada, her country of origin, is delighted with this new beginning. « Almost everything I’ve done in my career has been dominated by my appearance. What was hidden behind it was never brought to light. But I always thought I had so much more to offer »explained the actress to the Dutch daily South Telegraph. « I am grateful and overwhelmed. Being recognized in a category with so many big names that I have admired for a long time makes me smile », she adds.
The actress is in the running for the Golden Globes for best actress, drama alongside Angelina Jolie in Maria Fernanda Torres in I’m still hereKate Winslet in Lee Miller Nicole Kidman in Baybgirl and Tilda Swinton in The Room Next Door .
