Pamela Anderson felt like she 'had depression for a couple of decades'
"It feels like I went from ‘Baywatch’ to Broadway. I don’t know what happened in between," said the star of Gia Coppola's "The Last Showgirl."
Pamela Anderson is garnering the best reviews of her career for her latest film, Gia Coppola's The Last Showgirl, leading to a whole new, unexpected chapter for the former Baywatch actress.
While at the Zurich Film Festival to accept the Golden Eye Award, Anderson admitted she may have had had "depression for a couple of decades," since everything between her Baywatch days and her Broadway debut in 2022 was "all a big blur."
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Pamela Anderson attends 'The last showgirl' Premiere at Kursaal during the 72nd San Sebastian Film Festival on September 27, 2024 in San Sebastian, Spain“I never thought I would be on stage, receiving an award like that," Anderson said, Variety reported. "I just want to keep working. I am excited to do more."
She continued, “I look at it now and it feels like I went from Baywatch to Broadway. I don’t know what happened in between, it’s all a big blur. I am just happy to be here, in this moment, because I think I have had depression for a couple of decades.”
Written by Kate Gersten and directed by Coppola, The Last Showgirl follows Shelley (Anderson), a veteran Las Vegas performer confronting the next chapter of her life after her show abruptly closes. The film immediately spoke to Anderson, who previously called it "the first time I ever read a good script" and felt she was "the only one" for the role.
The Pamelaissance began in 2022 when Anderson made her Broadway debut in Chicago as Roxie Hart. Rob Marshall, who directed the 2002 film adaptation of the iconic musical, approached the actress when she was at a surf contest with her sons and told her she should try the Great White Way. Anderson admitted she "ended up getting too afraid" to do it for years but went on to call it "the best thing" she ever did.
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"You never know what you are capable of until you try,” she added.
While Broadway helped Anderson see herself in a new light, her 2023 memoir Love, Pamela and Ryan White's documentary Pamela, a Love Story helped everyone else see her in a new light, as well.
“Ryan [White] made that doc and that’s how Gia saw me," Anderson said. "I always knew I was capable of more. It’s great to be a part of pop culture, but it’s a blessing and a curse. People fall in love with you because of a bathing suit. It has taken a long time, but I am here.”
Related: Pamela Anderson sparkles in poignant Las Vegas tale of The Last Showgirl
Despite the "decades" of depression between her career breakthrough and her personal breakthrough, Anderson says it was all worth it for the role of a lifetime.
“I don’t think I could have played this character [in ‘The Last Showgirl’] if I wouldn’t have the life that I had, so it was worth it," Anderson admitted. "If I can continue working and using these struggles and challenges … I’ll feel blessed.”
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