Pamela Anderson says ‘dealing with beauty and glamor and aging’ was part of her preparation for ‘Last Showgirl’

CNN
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Pamela Anderson says preparing for “The Last Showgirl” was a deeply personal experience.

Anderson appeared Tuesday episode of Variety’s “Actors on Actors” alongside “Anora” actress Mikey Madison, where Anderson opened up about how she stepped away from “her whole life” to inform her role in the Gia Coppola-directed drama.

“I was able to bring a lot of my own personal experience, my long life of dealing with beauty and glamor and aging and reevaluating life choices,” Anderson told Madison, talking about the emotional preparation she did.

“I have to bring my whole life into this role,” she added.

“The Last Showgirl” stars Anderson as Shelly, a Las Vegas showgirl whose show abruptly closes after a 30-year run, forcing her to face her future and plan for it head-on. Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka and Billie Lourd round out the cast.

In the Variety interview, Anderson went on to talk about her two sons, Brandon and Dylan Lee, who she shares with her ex, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee. She said that while working on the film, she looked back on her life and came to some realizations about her children’s experience of seeing their mother being “sexualized in some way”.

“A lot of the things I was going through, I didn’t realize my kids were going through them at the same time,” she said. She added that she and her children, who are now adults in their 20s, “talk about it a lot and (I) ask for forgiveness… But we’re such a team now.”

Anderson earned her first ever Golden Globe nomination for her role in “Last Showgirl.”

During Tuesday’s episode, the “Baywatch” star said she’s really trying to live in the moment and enjoy this time in her life, even though the role has inspired some introspection.

“I’m not ashamed of my life. I’m not ashamed of the choices I made, even though in hindsight maybe I would have done things differently. But you need life experience to know that you would have done it differently, ” Anderson said.

She continued: “I now feel like I have the freedom to focus on things instead of worrying about a relationship or my family. My kids are grown up. I’m free. Now I can play again.”