How Pamela Anderson Embraced Her Age in the Role of a Lifetime for 'The Last Showgirl'

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Pamela Anderson never expected to be in the awards show race, but here she is in 2024 with The Last Showgirl. Ever since the 57-year-old actress began living her authentic self, tossing away the beauty standards that Hollywood expected of her, her life changed forever.

Even just a simple line in the film, coming out in limited release on December 13, has Anderson embracing what it means to be a woman in her 50s. She described a particular scene to Deadline between her and Jason Schwartzman, who plays the director of a Las Vegas show that her character is auditioning for.

“What you sold was young and sexy. You aren’t either anymore,” the director says.

Anderson was supposed to yell back, “I’m 50,” but the line gave her pause. “I could feel it in my body,” she told the media outlet about asking for a minor script change to make it feel authentic. “I’m 57 and I’m beautiful, you son of a bitch,” her character, Shelly, now says in the film.

After her 2023 Netflix documentary, Pamela, a Love Story, and memoir, Love, Pamela: A Memoir of Prose, Poetry, and Truth, the former Baywatch star was ready to write a fresh chapter for herself. I went home to find out why I had been making some of these choices, and with destructive relationships,” she explained. “I wanted to figure out, who am I? I wanted to be myself.”

Rediscovering who she was led to the most important relationship she will ever have — the one with herself. She talked about the status of her dating life on The Drew Barrymore Show on October 22 while revealing the powerful lesson she learned.

“Yeah, well, variations of single, I guess,” she said to Barrymore. “I don’t know. No, I’m not even thinking about that right now. I’m just thinking about this whole love affair I’m having right now with just life and myself and getting to know myself… I’d be a better partner anyway.”

This revelation may lead her straight to the Oscars stage where everyone is already raving about her performance ahead of its release. Goodfellas Head of Sales Eva Diederix and Utopia VP of Sales Marie Zeniter wrote in a statement to Deadline in July, “Pamela’s performance shows a very different side of her, adding depth to the iconic Las Vegas showgirl. As we embark on this journey, we can’t wait for audiences worldwide to experience the magic of this film.”

The best Pamela Anderson era is here!

Before you go, click here to see all of Pamela Anderson’s confirmed relationships below: