'The Last Showgirl's Pamela Anderson On Fulfilling Lifelong Acting Ambition

Gia Coppola and Pamela Anderson discuss 'The Last Showgirl' at Deadline's Contenders Film: Los Angeles — Gia Coppola and Pamela Anderson discuss 'The Last Showgirl' at Deadline's Contenders Los Angeles on Saturday Rich Polk/Deadline

For Pamela Anderson, Gia Coppola‘s drama The Last Showgirl was an opportunity she’d been awaiting for her entire life.

“It was such a relief to … be able to do a real film,” said the star, who rose to fame in Playboy and on Baywatch, in a sit-down Saturday at Deadline’s Contenders Los Angeles. “I mean, this is the first script I ever read that was a good one. No one was giving me scripts like this. … So I just poured everything I could into it because I thought, ‘What if this is the only film I ever get to do?'”

Written by Kate Gersten, whose way into the world of showgirls was a play about those working at the Las Vegas revue Jubilee!, The Last Showgirl follows Shelley (Anderson), a seasoned Vegas performer who faces an existential crisis when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run.

An examination, in Coppola’s words, of “how our culture just discards so effortlessly,” the acclaimed indie has has an immeasurable impact on the life of Anderson, who shared: “I feel like I can breathe now. … I needed to do this for my soul. I wanted to know what I was made of [and] I’m still looking because I hope this is just the tip of the iceberg, and I feel like I’ve just begun.”

Watch on Deadline

Elsewhere in today’s conversation moderated by Deadline’s Antonia Blyth, Coppola discussed how the project reflected her lifelong fascination with Las Vegas and the question of who the people are “that make this world of illusion come to life.” Among other topics broached was research on the world of showgirls heading into production, on the part of both Coppola and her lead.

World premiering at the Toronto Film Festival, after which point Roadside Attractions swooped on distribution rights, The Last Showgirl‘s stacked cast also includes Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka, and Billie Lourd. Slated for release in limited U.S. theaters on December 13, ahead of a wide expansion on January 10, the film is produced by Robert Schwartzman and Natalie Farrey. Kara Durrett and Jesse Burgum of Pinky Promise served as executive producers.

Check back Monday for the panel video.

The presenting sponsor for this year’s Contenders Film: Los Angeles is United for Business. Sponsors are Eyeptizer Eyewear, Final Draft + ScreenCraft, and partners are Four Seasons Maui, 11 Ravens and Robina Benson Design House.