For years, Anderson has been boxed into the blonde bombshell archetype after getting her start as a Playboy Playmate and then appearing in the TV series, “Baywatch.” Her marriage to Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee made headlines when a sex tape leaked.
Anderson took a brief break from the spotlight to focus on raising her two sons, but she soon returned, starring as Roxie Hart in “Chicago” on Broadway. And last year, she took control of her narrative by publishing her memoir “Love, Pamela” and appeared in the Netflix documentary “Pamela, a Love Story,” which Brandon Lee produced.
Lee’s pride is felt over the computer screen. His emotions are high as he recalls how Anderson always told him that “she was going to have to always going to have to prove herself to people, and we would always have to do that.”
But the tide is turning. Has Anderson finally proved herself and her acting abilities? With the critical acclaim for her performance as Shelly, Lee has seen a shift not just from audiences and fans, but also from Hollywood and what roles she’s getting offered. But it didn’t happen overnight, and it took “The Last Showgirl” to get there. Lee says, “When you really think about it and where we’ve come from over the last decade, it’s remarkable.” He goes on to say, “What Pamela is doing and the opportunities she’s getting right now are just fantastic. It lets you know you’re doing the right things.”
Below, Lee talks about why he has made it his personal mission to help shift the narrative toward Anderson, whom he calls “Pamela” during the conversation, and how Hollywood has responded to her.
[bold]There’s a story of the script being turned down by Pamela’s former agent before even showing it to her, and you happened to come across it. Can you talk about meeting with Gia and that gut instinct that this was right for Pamela?[/bold]
When I first laid eyes on it, I wasn’t really used to looking at projects like that for Pamela. It was such a breath of fresh air, and it was so impactful, and it was something I knew she could deliver on. And it was so timely, and it just seemed like the stars were aligning a bit on it and how it was playing into this arc of where she was in her career. I knew there were so many real-life inspirations she could take into this.
So, I met with Gia and producer Robert Schwartzman and was figuring out if they were going to be the people we trusted with this — her comeback performance.
It is very much a family business with them as well, and everything’s kind of entangled like that, and that’s kind of how we operate. I knew we could trust them, and I think it was about just putting the right pieces in place. Once the cast started to come together for that, and who was going to be helping Pamela carry this film, it just became such a no-brainer and such a fantastic opportunity. And I knew from day one it was going to be a special product.
[bold]What about getting the script to Pamela, what was her reaction when you gave her this story?[/bold]
My mom’s so funny. She will tell you it’s the first time she’s ever read a real script. I think that’s probably mostly true.
The conversation was very quick. She read it and said, “I want to do it.” There was no deliberation around it. She was instantly enamored with Shelly, and it spoke to her.
This film was made for just over a million bucks in 18 days. So the fact that it has the impact that it has is incredible. It just shows that everyone involved with the project had to come together. It’s incredible what can happen when people can put ego and stardom to the side and really make it an art project and come together for the sake of filmmaking, great writing, great directing and great cinematography.
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