TIFF 2024 ‘The Last Showgirl': Pamela Anderson says it's the first time she's read a 'good script'
Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis and the rest of the cast were in tears during the emotional world premiere of Gia Coppola's movie
The cast of The Last Showgirl were in tears at the world premiere of the movie at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Directed by Gia Coppola, starring Pamela Anderson, Dave Bautista, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kiernan Shipka, Brenda Song and Billie Lourd, the impressive film features an absolutely breathtaking and impactful performance from Anderson, in particular.
“I think I’ve been getting ready my whole life for this role,” Anderson told the crowd at The Princess of Wales Theatre. “It’s the first time I've ever read a good script."
What is 'The Last Showgirl' about?
The Last Showgirl takes us to Las Vegas, specifically Le Razzle Dazzle show that is closing its doors after more than 30 years.
Shelly (Anderson) is particularly devastated about the news, dealing with questions about what she's going to do with her life when her show is gone. It's a very different reality for her as a 50-year-old performer, compared to the younger women in the show.
Filmed in just 18 days, The Last Showgirl explores Shelly's relationship with her daughter Hannah (Lourd), and the impact Shelly's life as a performer has had on her daughter. While Shelly has largely been a maternal figure to younger showgirls, played by Shipka and Song.
For Curtis, who plays ex-showgirl turned waitress Annette, and was particularly emotional during the premiere, this film is an important evaluation on life's hardships.
“There’s this Nanci Griffith song 'It's a Hard Life Wherever You Go,' it’s a hard life for people, it’s a really hard life for people and in Vegas it’s a really hard life," Curtis said through tears. "And I just think that poignancy of the storytelling of every single person’s story, though Kate's [Gersten] words and Gia’s direction, and the beautiful camera work, it’s exquisite to see."
"It’s a movie about dreams and going after your dreams, but of course, the dreams become a really harsh f**king reality, and for women it’s a really harsh reality that men don't have as much."
Billie Lourd reflects on the relationship between Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds
For Lourd, she highlighted that the film was "deeply meaningful" to her, and playing Hannah allowed her to reflect on her mother's relationship with her grandmother, the late Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds.
"When I met with Gia I spoke about my mom and my grandma's relationship, and getting to play this character was extremely cathartic for me because it felt like Shelly was my grandma and I got to be my mom, and I got to understand my mom on a deeper level than I ever have," Lourd said.
"And to get to do that with Pamela was an absolute gift. She is a wonderful mother in real life and was a wonderful mother to me on this film."
From the cast to the crew that made this film, and the audience at TIFF, The Last Showgirl is absolutely one of the most impactful films to see at the Toronto festival, with a must-see performance from our Canadian icon Anderson.
