
In the Envelope: The Actor’s Podcast features in-depth conversations with today’s most noteworthy actors and creators. Join host and senior editor Vinnie Mancuso for this guide to living the creative life from those who are doing it every day.
Pamela Anderson is the delightful surprise of the 2025 awards season. Perhaps best known for her turbulent tabloid stories in the 1990s, she’s a revelation in Gia Coppola’s “The Last Showgirl.” She stars as Shelly Gardner, a Las Vegas showgirl who finds herself staring down the dark side of showbiz—and its treatment of aging women—when her show closes after a 30-year run. The performance has garnered nominations at both the Golden Globes and SAG Awards.
“I’ve been very conscious of the fact that this is my opportunity to work. This is my chapter to be an actress,” Anderson tells us. “Sure, I’ve done a lot of wild and crazy things. Those were different chapters. This is something that feels better than anything that I’ve ever experienced, being able to express myself in this way.”
On this episode of In the Envelope: The Actor’s Podcast, Anderson discusses the breakneck pace of the 18-day “Last Showgirl” shoot, studying the techniques of renowned acting coach Ivana Chubbuck, and the long road to finally showing off her full potential.
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“The Last Showgirl” marks the first time Anderson has ever enjoyed watching herself onscreen.
“It was the first time I ever experienced seeing myself completely transform. I could feel that I maintained the character throughout. For me, this is a new experience. I never really liked to watch myself. I never watched an episode of ‘Baywatch.’ When I was shooting the cover of Playboy, I would go to Samuel French and read Eugene O’Neill, Tennessee Williams, Sam Shepard, all these great plays, thinking: How do I get from here to here? Is this what this business even is? And am I part of it?
I took acting classes, but then I would get into another television show where I didn’t really need to apply myself. I was reading [Richard Boleslawski’s] ‘Acting: The First Six Lessons’ and all these things, but I’m not from a movie family. There’s nobody who is an artist in my family or a musician or anything. I was just building all of this from scratch. It’s really interesting how we don’t really know if we’re capable of anything until we try. I’ve always wanted to know what I’m made of, and I always knew there was more to me than what I was doing.”
“The Last Showgirl” Courtesy Roadside Attraction
The actor poured a lot of herself into Shelly.
“I write emotional journals and diaries, and [use Chubbuck’s concept of] substitution. Every part of my life is in this film. Interestingly enough, just doing [Ryan White’s] documentary [‘Pamela: A Love Story’] and writing my memoir [‘Love, Pamela’] and going back home even—I get chills thinking about it, because I feel like I found a place to put my life experience. I kept thinking I had this little monster inside me that couldn’t get out. Ivana really taught me how to turn my little, messy, wild life into interesting work. It was all worth it to have those experiences. How could I play this character if I didn’t have this life experience?”
Anderson is excited not only that she’s received awards nominations, but that fellow “comeback” performers like Demi Moore (“The Substance”) and Angelina Jolie (“Maria”) have, too.
“It’s exciting to see so many stories about women—and not just about young women. I really am proud of the fact that ‘The Last Showgirl’ is not exploitative in any way. It’s about generations of women hitting the same crossroads of reinvention. Sometimes when you think it’s the end, it’s really the beginning. I’m very sensitive to exploitation; and I know that sounds funny coming from a Playboy Playmate, because I didn’t look at it that way back then, and I don’t regret it. But film is really changing. It’s really opening. No one’s holding back, and it’s exciting to see.
I’m really drawn to human stories that are enough without sensationalism. I like sexy, too. I mean, I love [Jean-Jacques Beineix’s 1986] movie ‘Betty Blue.’ But I think that’s very organic. It’s interesting to see the times change, and that’s a good thing. I love my little zone that I’m in; I love being my age; I love being at this point where I’m able to create characters who are these heart-on-their-sleeve, flawed beings, because we all are. That’s what makes characters so relatable and inspiring and exciting to play: not for their superficial qualities, but for their inner lives.”