Mr Viral
Pamela Anderson Reveals Why She Decided to Leave Hollywood for Canada
Pamela Anderson continues to reinvent herself.
The Last Showgirl star—who is nominated at the 2025 Golden Globes for her leading role as a seasoned Las Vegas showgirl forced to face retirement—is entering awards season with a fresh face, going makeup free since 2023.
“I’ve been playing characters my whole life,” Pamela told Entertainment Tonight last month. “I want to play characters in movies, not in my personal life. I just want to be me, so this is an experiment. It’s just something I feel drawn to do.”
And while she said she “didn’t even think anyone would notice,” the Baywatch alum—who is mom to sons Brandon Thomas, 28, and Dylan Jagger, 27, with ex Tommy Lee—has shared the positive impact her decision has made on others.
“I didn’t realize that it was going to resonate with so many people,” she said during an October episode of Today With Hoda and Jenna. “I had people coming up to me and thanking me. It’s just really interesting to see the ripple effect it’s had. But I did it for myself. I did it for myself just to say I’m good enough as I am, and I don’t need to chase this impossible dream.”
The decision—which she debuted at Paris Fashion Week in late 2023—was also one that she made after the death of her makeup artist Alexis Vogel to breast cancer in 2019.
“She was the best,” Pamela explained to Elle shortly before debuting the look. “Since then, I just felt, without Alexis, it’s just better for me not to wear makeup.”
Noting the choice felt “a little rebellious,” she was eager to make it because “there were all these people doing big makeup looks, and it’s just like me to go against the grain and do the opposite of what everyone’s doing.”
Bei/Shutterstock; John Salangsang/Shutterstock
And that individualism is part of what drew the former Playboy model to the Gia Coppola-directed film.
“Gia had such a vision,” Pamela told Vancouver Sun in December. “She can see through the nonsense and see a person who needs to express themselves as an artist. So I will be eternally grateful to her for the experience.”
But it wasn’t just the director who made a difference for her, adding, “It’s a group effort and I want to pay respect to that. The script is so great. Gia is wonderful and the music element and the editors. There is so much that goes into making a performance [and] it starts with a beautiful story.”
To take a look at Pamela’s beautiful transformation over the years, keep reading…
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