Pamela Anderson Reveals the Movie She Avoided Watching for 27 Years

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For years, Pamela Anderson faced intense media attention and was often reduced to her physical appearance. While her show, Baywatch, was hugely popular worldwide, it wasn’t known for artistic quality, and a very public scandal with her husband, Tommy Lee, often overshadowed her work. The media frequently focused on her looks rather than recognizing her as a talented performer.

Over the decades, Anderson continued to work, but often chose projects designed for commercial success rather than critical praise. She appeared on reality TV, wrote books, and acted in comedies like Scary Movie 3, Superhero Movie, and Blonde and Blonder. These roles allowed her to capitalize on her fame, but did little to change how the public viewed her as an actress.

After almost thirty years since her debut in Playboy, Pamela Anderson is finally getting the artistic respect she deserves. This comeback started with her self-aware role in Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl, where she played an older Las Vegas performer trying to stay relevant.

A surprisingly successful performance in the 2025 reboot of The Naked Gun followed, showing that she has strong comedic skills and vulnerability when given the right role. However, her early attempts at leading a film weren’t as well-received. The 1996 action movie Barb Wire was heavily criticized, highlighting that she wasn’t quite prepared for a leading role at the time.

Anderson seems to agree with this assessment, as she didn’t watch the film for almost three decades. In it, she played a bounty hunter in leather and a corset—a character that relied too much on “sexy superhero” stereotypes, making it hard for audiences to take the story seriously.

Looking back on her career, actress Anderson now sees her famous roles, like C.J. Parker and Barb Wire, as somewhat superficial – like dressing up for Halloween. She recently shared that while those characters were very focused on how they looked, she believes she brought genuine emotion to the performances.

She admits she wasn’t thinking like a serious actor at the time, but she still appreciates the honesty she showed in those roles when she was in her twenties. In fact, when she finally watched Barb Wire for the first time, she needed a unique approach to get through it.

She revealed she watched the film in French with English subtitles, which helped her distance herself from the sound of her own voice and make it more bearable. Although those early roles weren’t perfect, they likely helped her grow into the successful actress she is today, recently earning a Golden Globe nomination for The Last Showgirl.

I’m really impressed with how well Anderson is doing! She was fantastic at the Golden Globes earlier this year, and it was fun seeing her with Miley Cyrus. Just recently, she was at the Berlin International Film Festival promoting her new movie, Rosebush Pruning. It looks amazing – a psychological thriller with a really strong cast, including Josh O’Connor, Elle Fanning, and Riley Keough. I can’t wait to see it!

Beyond her glamorous public appearances, Anderson is working on a variety of exciting film projects, including the directorial debut of Michael Cera, Love Is Not the Answer, which also stars Jamie Dornan and Steve Coogan. She’s also dedicated to her own businesses, like her natural skincare brand, Sonsie, and continues to be a passionate advocate for animal rights.

Now living a simpler, more natural life at her farmhouse on Vancouver Island, she seems to have left behind the focus on image and embraced a period of true self-acceptance and honesty.

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2026-02-17 12:44