Pamela Anderson in the film “Last Showgirl”, the “painful” Pam and Tommy series

Pamela Anderson has always been a serious actress.

As a young girl, she fondly remembers her father watching “All in the Family” while she recited Shakespeare sonnets on an exercise bike.

“Even when I was doing Playboy covers, I was reading pieces by Tennessee Williams and Eugene O’Neill,” Anderson recalls. NBC’s “Baywatch” and the tabloids discrediting her stolen sex tape followed, but “I was disappointed that I wasn’t doing things that challenged me. “I got away with murder in a swimsuit.”

Now she could well receive her first Oscar nomination for “The Last Showgirl” (in theaters now), in which she plays an aging burlesque performer named Shelly. A naïve and imperfect idealist, Shelly desperately clings to her Las Vegas show while trying to reconnect with her estranged daughter (Billie Lourd).

"I put all my life experience into it," Pamela Anderson says of her dramatic turn "The Last Showgirl."

“If I had had a different life, I wouldn’t have been able to play her the way I did,” says Anderson, 57, who caught the attention of director Gia Coppola with her 2023 documentary “Pamela, A Love Story.” attracted attention. She is now in the midst of a career renaissance, with Best Actress honors at the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards and additional films starring Elle Fanning (“Rosebush Pruning”) and Liam Neeson (“The Naked Gun”) . ).

Do you need a break? Play the USA TODAY daily crossword puzzle.

It was a reflective time for the iconic sex symbol, who wakes up at 5am every morning to write a diary.

On this particular Tuesday, “I’m writing about the edge of the unknown because I feel like that’s where I’m at right now, which is a very exciting place,” Anderson says over Zoom from her hotel room on New York’s Upper East Side. She then took a walk through Central Park and visited a tree that she adopted in 2022 in honor of her two sons, Brandon, 28, and Dylan, 27, whom she shares with ex-husband Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe.

“I picked it up when I played Roxie in ‘Chicago’ on Broadway,” Anderson remembers. “I got a little plaque for her that says ‘Dreams come true.'”

Anderson talks USA TODAY about “Last Showgirl,” motherhood and her reaction to Hulu’s “painful” miniseries “Pam & Tommy.”

Question: As a child, you wanted to be either a nun or a showgirl. Does it feel like you’re making at least one of those dreams come true with this film?

Answer: (Laughs.) I did! I loved the idea of solitude and there’s a part of me that’s very Nunnish too. I’ve been on both sides of the coin – it’s hard to imagine, but it’s true. I learned that you have to believe in yourself before other people believe in you. I started to believe what other people thought, and so I pushed everything back: I wanted to remember who I was when I wasn’t dressing for other people. I wanted to stop playing characters in my personal life and start playing them in film or on stage. It’s interesting to feel like I’m at the very beginning of my career at this age.

Have you ever expressed to your team on Baywatch that you’re interested in making dramas and art house films?

Absolutely. But the people around me were more commercial and didn’t want to hear from me about the books I read or the movies I liked. I didn’t think it was possible either. I thought, “Well, I’m lucky to be on the beach and getting paid.” I would have been here with my dog anyway.” I remember at first Barb Wire was more of a dark comedy and really interesting, but then it became more commercial and I don’t even know what the movie was ultimately about. Things change and you just get caught up in it.

People really only wanted to see me in TV series like “Baywatch” and “VIP”. I did “Stacked” for a short time because it was a good schedule with kids: a sitcom, short days, you get to go to all your kids’ baseball games. But my heart wasn’t in it because it wasn’t what was originally suggested to me – there was a bit too much making fun of my body. Then I just took a big break (for many years). I thought, “I have to think of something else because this isn’t me.”

That’s where Brandon came in and said, “We need to make a documentary about your life.” I’m glad he did, because that’s how it all started: people seeing me in a new light and showing me different roles. I was already in my garden and thought, “I’ll definitely make my life beautiful.” Maybe I’ll open a flower shop.” Then this script came along and I thought, “Okay, I can do that later.”

What did you learn about yourself from playing Shelly? Were you able to look back on past experiences with new insights?

You can go to therapy or talk to your best friend all day, but there’s nothing like an art project to heal parts of yourself. I just had so much empathy for the character; There’s no perfect way to be a parent, you know? The mother-daughter story really touched me because I now had two grown sons and I apologized (to them). Your children are going through what you are going through and right now we don’t realize it. So I’ve been able to have these conversations with my boys and we’re so close. Objectifying their mother was always a difficult thing, so I made a real effort to talk to my sons about feelings.

Your sons have really stepped up and supported you, especially in the last few years. What does your relationship with them mean the most to you?

I’m a very happy mother, but I’ve always felt a little guilty because they’re so protective of me. I wish our family had survived intact; I never got over it and it’s something I carried with me. Even now, my relationship is still my work. I have two grown, beautiful children who say, “Mom, we just want you to be yourself and reach your potential.” And that’s exactly how I feel about them. I don’t want to use too much of their brain power. I want them to live their own lives: full of ups and downs, mistakes and whatever they will do in their careers, and not worry about mom.

After all you’ve survived and endured in the tabloids, people have truly come to recognize you as a trailblazer. How does it feel to have your career reevaluated in this way?

Well, I definitely did it my own way; I chose an unorthodox path to get here. I’ve been through some moments where, however I handled it, it probably wasn’t the best. But I feel very lucky to be in this position now, it could have just as easily slipped through my fingers. You just have to recognize the moment when you are about to vomit. You have to be calm and wait to see what’s around the corner. And then when the opportunity presents itself, take it.

Do you feel that people still have a hard time accepting that women can be both a nun and a showgirl: sexy and smart?

I don’t know. I’m not a prude, but I see these hypersexual movies that are out there. It’s great that we can claim our own sexuality, but I also feel very protective. I have mastered this life; I navigated Playboy; I’ve seen people take different paths and I’ve mentored women who needed help getting back on the right path. I got through it, but it’s a tough business and it will always be tough. I see so many other women in this business like Demi Moore, and it’s deserved. It’s a waste of time. Women have to take a different path than male actors and you have to have integrity and protect yourself and not give up. I’m just happy to be where I am now – this is the happiest time of my life.

Which directors would you most like to work with next?

There are so many: I love Sean Baker, Wim Wenders, Quentin Tarantino. I almost worked with Quentin a long time ago, but I freaked out. It’s on my wish list though – I need to recapture this moment!

What was the movie?

“Grindhouse.” I said, “Oh, I don’t want to be slaughtered because I have little kids.” And he said, “No, you’ll be the only one who doesn’t die.” So we talked about it, but I am didn’t go to the meeting. I was being chased by paparazzi – it was one of those moments where they were so brutal – and I just kept driving. But I was just looking for a reason not to go in because I was scared. Now I’m ready for anything because my children are grown and I have no distractions.

Vanity is a prison. It was such a free time for me to walk around as I am. No one falls backwards and says, “Oh no, I can’t look at that!” She’s not wearing any makeup!” No one cares! We all care so much about ourselves – we are certainly our own worst critics.

You’ve released a documentary and a memoir series, but would you ever consider making a film or miniseries about your life? Are you trying to recapture the Pam & Tommy narrative in some way?

No, I think that would be boring. I mean, I’ve never seen this (show) and had nothing to do with it. I was quite shocked that people could do something against you without your knowledge or blessing. I found out about this while making the documentary and asked myself, “What’s going on?” Why would they go to a place that was so painful for me that it took me so much time to get over it?” I don’t even think I got over it; That really left its mark. The last few decades have been very dark for me. I wrote a lot of poems and wrote a lot, but I wasn’t happy. I was confused and trying to figure out what to do.

Somehow it all worked out, but it’s not something I’d like to go through again. It happened and I’m stronger for it now, I think.

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Pamela Anderson in the film “Last Showgirl”, the “painful” Pam and Tommy series

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