Pamela Anderson planned to make pickles at home in B.C. Then, she was offered the role of a lifetime

Courtney Dickson · CBC News

· Posted: Jan 18, 2025 7:00 AM EST | Last Updated: January 18

As she turned the pages of the script, one her agent had previously turned down, Pamela Anderson knew she could play the lead role — and play it well. 

“Goosebumps,” she told CBC’s On the Coast guest host Amy Bell.

“I knew how to play her. I knew that I could inhabit this character, I could transform. And I just felt the nuances and the feelings that our lives are parallel in some ways.”

Director Gia Coppola had sent the script for The Last Showgirl to Anderson’s son, Brandon Thomas Lee, hoping he might be able to convince her to take the role.

Anderson had recently moved home to Ladysmith, B.C., the small town on Vancouver Island she grew up in. Having just finished her Broadway stint as Roxie Hart in Chicago, she was looking forward to spending time in her garden, and making pickles and jam — like a page out of her cookbook, I Love You: Recipes from the Heart, which came out last fall. 

“My aunt won all the pickles and mustard awards actually, on Vancouver Island,” she said during an interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers last week. “I come from a long line of pickles.”

But the character of Shelly Gardner and the story of The Last Showgirl pulled Anderson away from that plan — at least for a few days; Anderson says it only took 18 days to shoot the film. 

The movie centres around Shelly, a 57-year-old showgirl in Las Vegas, who’s prompted to reflect on how show business has impacted her life and her family after the club she’s worked in for decades announces it will close.

“I felt, what if I never get to do another movie? Because I might not. And so I said, this is my chance to apply myself and do everything that I know,” Anderson said. 

WATCH | How Pamela Anderson connected with The Last Showgirl‘s Shelley:

Former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson has spent much of the last few years back in B.C., living in her hometown on Vancouver Island. But the script for The Last Showgirl, in which she plays a dramatic leading role, called her back into acting.

B.C. roots

Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week, Anderson explained how she was discovered at 21 years old — at a B.C. Lions game in 1989.

“I had a Labatt’s T-shirt on and the camera man zoomed in on me and put me up on the Jumbotron all night,” she said. 

That led to calls from People magazine and Playboy, she said, and her first plane ride to L.A.

From there, she spent many years in the spotlight.

Anderson appeared in Playboy magazine, which led to a few film and TV roles, including a recurring role on Home Improvement. Her star power further skyrocketed thanks to her role as C.J. Parker on Baywatch, and her titular character in the 1996 film Barb Wire, based on the comic book character. 

She’s appeared in single episodes of television series, sometimes playing herself, and competed on Dancing with the Stars and British series Dancing on Ice.

She wrote a pair of novels, Star and Star Struck, and her memoir came out in 2023. Her son produced a documentary about her and she has a home renovation show. 

Anderson has done it all, really. 

But she’s never forgotten who she is or where she came from. 

“I love that I’m here in Vancouver promoting this film because it just feels like full circle,” she said.

Anderson bought her Ladysmith property from her grandparents about 30 years ago, hoping to live there one day. 

Her parents are still close by.

“My mom’s actually in Duncan right now with 12 of her bedazzled friends,” she said Friday. Duncan is about 28 kilometres south of Ladysmith.

“They’re all sparkling from head to toe going to the showgirl film cause any generation can love this … I really think it’s hitting home with a lot of people. It’s touching a nerve.”

Protective community

Her return to Ladysmith has been a pleasure for locals, according to local shop owner Melanie Clunk. 

She says the community is protective of Anderson and her family. 

“We always try to respect her privacy,” she said. 

“We don’t want to jump all over her and we want her to come out into the community and feel comfortable.”

That doesn’t mean the community isn’t proud of her; the people of Ladysmith are watching closely as The Last Showgirl continues to dazzle audiences and bring home hardware, Clunk said.

“Everybody’s talking about it, even her renovation show as well, and everything that she’s accomplished and how she’s really down to earth and really owned who she is, and she’s just a beautiful soul.”

LISTEN | Pamela Anderson tells CBC’s Tom Power it’s never too late to start over: 

For decades, Pamela Anderson has been recognized as a pop culture icon, but she says she hasn’t recognized herself until now. Earlier this month, she earned her first Golden Globe nomination for her role as a fading Las Vegas showgirl in Gia Coppola’s new film, “The Last Showgirl.” Her critically acclaimed performance marks a new chapter of her career as a serious dramatic actor and bonafide artist. Pamela joins Tom Power to talk about the film — and why she says it’s never too late to start over.

Lately, Anderson has been doing press for the film, travelling North America to do interviews. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance, and the movie is generating Oscar buzz. Soon, she’ll be promoting her next film, The Naked Gun, set to be released this summer.

But once it all ends, she’ll be back at her Ladysmith home, making jam and pickles — with her secret ingredient: roses. 

“I’ll never stop making pickles,” she said.