In The Last Showgirl, Pamela Anderson gives perhaps the best performance of her life. This is probably also due to the scripts that she has (not) been offered over the decades.
Pamela Anderson is considered the ultimate sex symbol of the 90s. She is best known for her breakthrough role as a lifeguard in Baywatch – The Lifeguards of Malibu, and her marriage to Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee caused a sensation. After a series of events surrounding the marriage and the release of the couple’s sex tape, the Netflix documentary Pamela: A Love Story told her side of the story. With The Last Showgirl, she has now apparently been able to process her experiences in the spotlight again.
Pamela Anderson has been preparing for this role her entire life
In The Last Showgirl, Pamela Anderson plays Shelley, a proud Las Vegas showgirl who entertains guests in feathers and crystal as part of the successful revue “Le Razzle Dazzle”. However, the show is to come to an end in a casino on the city’s entertainment strip in two weeks’ time, which presents the 57-year-old with new challenges.
While Shelley’s best friend Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis) was banned from the stage years ago and works as a cocktail waitress, the announcement of the end by producer Eddie (Dave Bautista) comes as a surprise to many.
The only way for Shelley to save herself seems to be to get back in touch with her daughter Hannah (Billie Lourd), whom she has not seen for years.
Pamela Anderson plays her best role in The Last Showgirl
Despite her fame, Pamela Anderson has rarely played memorable roles in her career. Her films have rarely been showered with praise by critics. Even on 8kstreaming, she has only a few entries that have been rated higher than 6 points by the community. With The Last Showgirl, this could now change.
Time magazine recently reported that Anderson said she feels as if she has been “preparing for this role all her life”. At the premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, she also admitted that such a role is a rare opportunity for her.
It was the first time I read a good script.
She is also quite sure that the role was created for her. While reading the script, she thought:
I’m the only one who can do this.
And so it happened. Many think that The Last Showgirl is based on a true story, but in fact many events contributed to the story.
Pamela Anderson’s performance as the Last Showgirl is celebrated
Time magazine also reported that Pamela Anderson not only played the role well, but that her co-stars were also moved by her performance. Co-star Jamie Lee Curtis, in particular, became emotional during the press conference. Billie Lourd, Pamela Anderson’s film daughter, said the work reminded her of her own mother, the late film legend Carrie Fisher:
I was able to understand my mother on a deeper level than I ever had, and it was a wonderful experience. […] And that I was able to do that with Pamela was an absolute gift. She’s a wonderful mother in real life and a wonderful mother to me in this movie.
The fact that we get to see Pamela Anderson in her best role with The Last Showgirl is also evidenced by the awards the film has received. It won prizes at the San Sebastián and Zurich film festivals and was nominated for Best Actress at the Golden Globes and for Best Actor at the Gotham Awards.
