PAMELA ANDERSON DISCUSSES LIFE AND HER NEW MOVIE, THE LAST SHOWGIRL

Pamela Anderson has hit her stride. The former Playboy model and Baywatch actress is living her best life and getting accolades for her role in the new film, The Last Showgirl.

Pamela Anderson has been earning kudos – including a 2025 Golden Globenomination. a Critics Choice Nomination and very likely an Oscar nod – for her performance in Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl, a poignant drama about a Las Vegas showgirl who faces an uncertain future when her show closes after more than 30 years.  Peeking behind the facade of rhinestones and feathers, the film takes a look at sexism, ageism and the unappreciated working class talent of the Strip.  Its strong cast includes Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka, and Billie Lourd.

In the 1980s when Le Razzle Dazzle began, it was legendary, reminiscent of the Parisian cabarets with dazzling costumes, lavish productions and statuesque dancers.  Now it’s being replaced by a “dirty circus” – the kind of risqué show that’s taking over Vegas.  Shelly (Anderson) and her young
co-workers (Song and Shipka) are devastated.  For the three of them, this is their livelihood, just scraping by, while the show manager (Bautista) gets to stay on with a pension and health plan.  For Shelly, it’s also her life.  But the future looks different when you are 50something rather than 20.

Curtis plays Shelly’s brash friend who quit show business a few years ago and became a cocktail waitress.  Lourd is Shelly’s 22-year-old estranged daughter who doesn’t understand her mother’s choices.  Jason Schwartzman appears as the heartless director who auditions Shelly for a new show.

 The script is by Kate Gersten, based on her unproduced play Body of Work, inspired by the Las Vegas revue Jubilee!, which closed in 2016.  Gersten not only interviewed Jubilee dancers, but also got permission to use the show’s Bob Mackie costumes.  “Queen of Burlesque” Dita Von Teese served as an advisor.

THE LAST SHOWGIRL opens January 17 across Canada, including Toronto (TIFF Lightbox),
Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa and more! The film opens throughout the winter in other cities.

I spoke with Pamela Anderson about working on this film and the inner peace she has finally found in her life.