Pamela Anderson was well-known for her role on Baywatch in the 90s, but she's also having a moment right now — and she's "just happy to be here, in this moment," she told Variety while at the Zurich Film Festival. She was there to accept the Golden Eye Award — something she admitted she never would've imagined she'd receive.
"I never thought I would be on stage, receiving an award like that. I just want to keep working. I am excited to do more," she told the publication.
In the 1990s, Pamela, 57, was a pop culture icon. In February 1990, she was Playboy Playmate of the Month and she continued to appear on covers of the magazine. She also portrayed C.J. Parker on Baywatch and Lisa on Home Improvement. In recent years, she has reclaimed her story, appearing on Broadway and writing a memoir titled Love, Pamela.
In 2023, she was the subject of Pamela, a Love Story, a documentary directed by Ryan White. When she thinks about the time that passed between when she was on Baywatch and when she was on Broadway, it feels like a "blur," she explained to Variety.
"I look at it now and it feels like I went from Baywatch to Broadway," she told the publication. "I don’t know what happened in between, it’s all a big blur."
She went on to speak about her mental health.
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"I am just happy to be here, in this moment, because I think I have had depression for a couple of decades," Pamela told the publication.
Because of what she's famous for, people don't always see her for who she really is. In a previous interview, she spoke to Variety about how she's more than just a sex symbol. "My life has been much more meaningful than a fluffy hat or a sex tape," she said at the time. "There’s more to me than that."
During the more recent interview, she called the way in which she rose to fame "a blessing and a curse." However, Ryan White, who directed the Netflix documentary, Pamela, a Love Story, saw that there was more to her, she pointed out. Gia Coppola, the director of The Last Showgirl, which Pamela stars in, recognized that as well.
"Ryan made that doc and that’s how Gia saw me," Pamela told Variety. "I always knew I was capable of more. It’s great to be a part of pop culture, but it’s a blessing and a curse. People fall in love with you because of a bathing suit. It has taken a long time, but I am here."
Though she's known as being a sex symbol, Pamela recently told Glamour that she feels confident in a bathing suit for the first time in her life.
“I feel like [now] it’s the first time in my life where I feel like if I’m wearing a bathing suit … I feel fine about myself," she told the magazine. "It’s so freeing."
However, she also admitted that she still struggles with how people perceive her, and as a result, how she perceives herself. "Even when I hear my name, I don’t like it. I have a negative connotation with it. I still have a stereotype of myself almost. And so it’s been hard work to try and get rid of that because I’m a woman.”
