Okay, so does this sound like you? You love NPR's podcasts. You wish you could get more of all your favorite shows and you want to support NPR's mission to create a more informed public. If all that sounds appealing, then it is time to sign up for the NPR Plus bundle. Learn more at plus.npr.org.

This is fresh air. I'm Tanya Mosley, and my guest today is Pamela Anderson. She stars in the new film The Last Show Girl, where she plays Shelley, a veteran performer from Las Vegas who learns that her show is shutting down after a 30-year run.

At 57, Shelly must grapple with the sacrifices she's made in her personal life for the benefit of her career,

including her relationship with her daughter, played by Billy Lord.

The last showgirl was directed by Giacopola and also stars Jamie Lee Curtis, who is almost

unrecognizable as a former showgirl and Shelley's best friend. Pamela Anderson became a pop

culture phenomenon in the 1980s and 90s. The Blockbuster television series Baywatch made her a household

name, and the show itself was at one time the most watched series in the world with over a billion viewers each week, making Anderson the highest paid actress on television at the time.

International distributors of the show even enacted a Pamela Claus in their contracts, agreeing to purchase only episodes that she was in.

But throughout the 2000s, Anderson struggled to make a name for herself outside of that 90s persona

until the opportunity for reinvention came, with her Broadway debut in 2022 as Roxy Heart in Chicago,

and the Netflix documentary, Pamela, a love story, which is a tender and

intimate portrait of her life produced by her son Brandon. Pamela Anderson, welcome to fresh air.

It is such a pleasure to have you here. Well, thank you. It's lovely to be here.

You know, Pamela, I'm so fascinated by your journey over the last few years because before this role in the last show girl was presented to you, I read that you had all but moved on from Hollywood. You actually looked at this script, though, and you said, I'm the only one that can do this. What was it about this script that made you just know?

I mean, it was a beautiful story.

It had a wonderful character to play.

And I just related on many levels.

You know, there's many parallels between us.

But I also felt like that was a great jumping off point that I could take this

opportunity and really transform into this woman.

And I was craving to do something like this.

...