The last few years have seen Pamela Anderson making headlines for her makeup-free looks but this Awards season has been all about the star’s turn in Gia Coppola‘s The Last Showgirl. Playing an aging Vegas showgirl, there are plenty of parallels between Anderson’s own life and the character she’s portraying. It allows her to pull from experience and really bring forth a heartbreaking performance (even if it’s probably not quite good enough to be winning any awards). You can check out Alex’s review HERE.

I was able to talk to the stars of the film, Kiernan Shipka and Brenda Song, to discuss the whirlwind of The Last Showgirl. With the generational theme of the movie, it was interesting to hear their takeaways and what hard truths they had to face. The set really seemed like there was a lot of female empowerment going on, which shouldn’t be a surprise when Jamie Lee Curtis is around. They were both absolutely ecstatic at the praise that Anderson has been getting for the film. But being the massive horror fan that I am, I also had to be sure to congratulate Kiernan on her fantastic turn in Longlegs.

THE LAST SHOWGIRL IS IN THEATERS EVERYWHERE!

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Plot: When the glittering Las Vegas revue she has headlined for decades announces it will soon close, a glamorous showgirl must reconcile with the decisions she’s made and the community she has built as she plans her next act.

Review: A lot of press has surrounded Pamela Anderson’s role in The Last Showgirl. After returning to acting in 2022 with a stint in a Broadway production of Chicago, Anderson released her memoir Love, Pamela and a corresponding Netflix documentary in 2023. With Lily James portraying Anderson in the Hulu limited series Pam & Tommy, Anderson has again entered the pop culture limelight, with many hailing The Last Showgirl as the actress’s revelatory rebirth as a dramatic actress. Directed by Gia Coppola, The Last Showgirl is an intriguing and devastating look at a fading aspect of Las Vegas and a stark portrait of a woman reflecting on the missed opportunities in her life. With a stellar supporting cast led by a fantastic Jamie Lee Curtis, The Last Showgirl is a melancholic portrait of getting older that gives Pamela Anderson a showcase for what she is capable of as an actor.

The Last Showgirl opens with Shelley (Pamela Anderson), a fifty-seven-year-old showgirl who is auditioning after she learns from stage manager Eddie (Dave Bautista) that her show, Razzle Dazzle, has been set to close its multi-decade run as the casino owners begin looking for a more modern act to take its place. The news shocks Shelley and her coworkers Mary-Anne (Brenda Song) and Jodie (Kiernan Shipka). The news shakes Shelley as her age signals the potential end to her career, something she sees in her best friend Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis), a former showgirl who quit to become a cocktail waitress. Knowing she only has a few weeks of employment left, Shelley begins to reflect on her decisions and the lack of a relationship with her daughter Hannah (Billie Lourd), whom she sent away to live with another family while Shelley pursued her dream. Shelley contemplates whether she can get a job with another dance troupe as she refuses to take work as an escort or do anything other than be a traditional showgirl.

Wearing little make-up when her character is not performing on stage, Pamela Anderson literally strips Shelley down to her most vulnerable aspects. We see her shopping for a date that fails to happen and spends time with her fellow showgirls as they think about their lives. Jodie, who is only nineteen, looks up to Shelley as a maternal presence while Shelley tries to find a way back into her daughter’s life, something Hannah is reluctant to do after years of being left to her own devices. Pamela Anderson does what she can with the role, which is not as robust as I had expected. Much of the film follows Shelley in a documentary-like fashion as she talks to the different people in her life. There are several substantial sequences for Anderson to shine, including an emotional dinner with Eddie, a breakdown opposite Brenda Song’s Mary-Anne, and a tumultuous audition for a director (Jason Schwartzman) in which Shelley confronts her age and limited skills. All of these moments are highlights in Anderson’s performance, while the rest of the time, she takes a backseat to her co-stars.

The rest of The Last Showgirl‘s ensemble all have much more experience working with material like this, and Brenda Song and Dave Bautista are doing good work in their brief roles. Kiernan Shipka and Billie Lourd play distinct aspects of both the real and surrogate daughters in Shelley’s life. The highlight is Jamie Lee Curtis, who overshadows Anderson’s performance with her own showcase of a role. Curtis dons an even less flattering appearance than she did in her Oscar-winning turn in Everything Everywhere All At Once to play Annette. With a deep orange fake tan, a red wig, and a bustier that leaves little to the imagination, Curtis is brash and loud compared to the more subdued performances from everyone else in the cast. She even has a solo dance performance set to “Total Eclipse of the Heart” that fits perfectly with the film’s tone, even if it is somewhat incongruously placed in the middle of the movie. Curtis may be in store for an Academy Award nomination for this film over Pamela Anderson’s more publicized comeback.

Written by Kate Gersten and based on her unproduced stage play Body of Work, The Last Showgirl is director Gia Coppola’s third film behind the camera, which is the first she did not write. Coppola’s strength as a filmmaker is more apparent in The Last Showgirl than in either of her prior films, Palo Alto and Mainstream. Using a lot of fuzzy, out-of-focus shots and handheld visuals, the film was shot over eighteen days and had a definite indie quality to it. The film shares much in common with Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler and Black Swan. Like Mickey Rourke’s broken-down fighter, Pamela Anderson’s Shelley is a world-weary veteran who does not know if she still has a place in the world that has moved on from where her career started. Shelley also has similar psychological strife compared to Natalie Portman’s ballet dancer, with The Last Showgirl’s closing sequence a hallucinatory reflection on her final days as a dancer.

The Last Showgirl is a more restrained film than we have seen from Gia Coppola so far, allowing it to have a more raw and realistic feel that serves the subject matter well. Everyone in the cast is quite good, even if the film is underwhelming compared to the buzz being generated for Pamela Anderson. Anderson does good work in a role vastly different from The Bombshell typecasting she was synonymous with, and it is nice to see her allowed to do more than serve as eye candy. The Last Showgirl boasts a memorable original song from composer Andrew Wyatt and singers Miley Cyrus and Lykke Li, which could earn the film an Oscar nomination. Still, I don’t think the overall movie is as strong a contender as some would have you believe. Definitely worth checking out for Jamie Lee Curtis’ standout performance and an impressive return to the screen for Pamela Anderson.

The Last Showgirl opens in theaters on December 13th.

The Last Showgirl

GOOD

7

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Knowing you’re at the end of a road is never easy. Life comes in stages, but closing the book on some of your most impactful years can leave emotional scars on your soul, filling you with memories, desperation, and regret. In Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl teaser trailer, model, actress, and author Pamela Anderson smiles through the pain, mustering up her courage for one last step into the spotlight. Opening on December 13, 2024, at AMC Century City for one week only and in theaters nationwide on January 10, 2025, The Last Showgirl transports us into the mind of an entertainer on the verge of calling it quits.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Last Showgirl courtesy of Roadside Attractions:

“The Last Showgirl, a poignant film of resilience, rhinestones, and feathers, stars Pamela Anderson as Shelly, a glamourous showgirl who must plan for her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run.”

Gia Coppola (Mainstream, The Seven Faces of Jane, Love Advent) directs The Last Showgirl from a screenplay by Kate Gersten (Mozart in the Jungle, The Good Place, Lost Ollie). The emotionally charged drama stars Pamela Anderson as Shelly, Dave Bautista as Eddie, Billie Lourd as Hannah, Kiernan Shipka as Jodie, Brenda Song as Mary-Anne, and Jamie Lee Curtis as Annette. The film is produced by Robert Schwartzman, Natalie Farrey, and Gia Coppola. It features a new original song, “Beautiful That Way,” sung by pop superstar Miley Cyrus, produced by Academy Award nominee Andrew Wyatt, and written by Wyatt, Cyrus, and Lykke Li.

In Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl trailer, Pamela Anderson’s Shelly masks her sadness with a pained smile as Bautista’s Eddie announces her final performance as a beloved showgirl. As the curtain closes, Shelly reflects on her future and where she might go after 30 years of white-hot lights, thrilling dance numbers, and attention from a revolving audience of strangers. Anderson looks to be giving her performance in The Last Showgirl her all, as the teaser trailer had me getting misty. I don’t think we’ve ever seen the former Baywatch star in something so moving, and I’m here for it.

What do you think about Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl teaser trailer? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Crank up the music, get the body glitter, and prepare for a hell of a show because Pamela Anderson is taking the stage for Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl. As news about Cannes Film Festival offerings fires up, fans of the blonde bombshell can look forward to their favorite Baywatch star returning to the spotlight as the star of Coppola’s upcoming film. In The Last Showgirl, Pamela Anderson plays a seasoned Las Vegas showgirl who is taking another crack at life. The Last Showgirl, from Goodfellas and Utopia, heads to the Cannes Film Festival market later this month.

Deadline debuted a first look at Pamela Anderson in The Last Showgirl, which, I’ll remind you, is not a sequel to Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls, starring Elizabeth Berkley as a drifter turned starlet of the stage. The image (shown above) shows Anderson in profile wearing a bedazzled, sheer top and feathered headdress. As Las Vegas roars with life in the background, Anderson looks to be contemplating how she’ll eat Sin City alive with her next move.

According to Deadline’s exclusive report, The Last Showgirl stars Anderson as a veteran showgirl “who must plan for her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run. As a dancer in her fifties, she struggles with what to do next. As a mother, she strives to repair a strained relationship with her daughter, who often took a backseat to her showgirl family.”

The Last Showgirl is in post-production, with a strong showing of Hollywood’s must-watch stars leading the cast, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Kiernan Shipka, Brenda Song, and Billie Lourd. Kate Gersten co-wrote the screenplay with Robert Schwartzman, and Natalie Farrey produced it. Autumn Durald Arkapaw (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) is the cinematographer, and Andrew Wyatt (Barbie) composes the music.

“Combined with a captivating narrative, this film embodies the strength, resilience, and creativity of female voices in independent cinema. Pamela’s performance shows a very different side of her, adding depth to the iconic Las Vegas showgirl. As we embark on this journey, we can’t wait for audiences worldwide to experience the magic of this film,” said Goodfellas Head of Sales Eva Diederix and Utopia VP of Sales Marie Zeniter.

Are you excited about Pamela Anderson’s return to the silver screen?  What do you think about her starring in the upcoming Naked Gun reboot? Let us know in the comments section below.

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