Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, known for his award-winning storytelling, recently praised Pamala Anderson’s performance in director Gia Coppola’s Las Vegas drama, The Last Showgirl, calling it “one of the finest performances of this or any year.”
In the film, Anderson portrays Shelly, a veteran showgirl grappling with the abrupt end of a 30-year career. Described as “a poignant film of resilience, rhinestones, and feathers,” The Last Showgirl explores Shelly’s journey as she faces an uncertain future, balancing the loss of her stage production with strained personal relationships.
Sorkin highlighted Anderson’s fearlessness, noting that much of the early buzz revolved around her choice to not wear makeup.
He explained: “Much has been made of her apparent choice not to wear make-up, but as brave as it may have been, that’s hardly the most impressive thing about her work. Pamela Anderson without makeup is exactly as attractive as Pamela Anderson on the cover of Playboy. Tough luck.”
Sorkin then dive into her acting, saying: “She starts out by handling a chaotic and verbose dressing room scene with breathtaking skill and confidence and then, one scene after another, she keeps astonishing us.
“Around about the time she has a climactic scene with her daughter, you realize you’d been distracted. It’s not her makeup choice that’s fearless; it’s her acting.”
That climactic scene features Billie Lourd as Shelly’s daughter, Hannah, in a confrontation that critics have hailed as one of the film’s most moving moments.
The cast also includes Kiernan Shipka, Brenda Song, Dave Bautista, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Bautista plays Shelly’s ex-lover and manager, who delivers the crushing news about the revue’s closure.
Curtis steps into the role of a supportive waitress and confidante, while Shipka and Song portray fellow showgirls moving on to brighter futures.
For Anderson, the role marked a personal and professional transformation. Reflecting on her career, she remarked:
“A lot of my career was about physicality, and it’s been a journey, but it’s also been part of the reason why I’ve kind of done this experiment with myself—just, you know, peeling it all back, remembering who I am. Not being defined by what people do to me, but by what I do.”
The movie is in theaters nationwide.
Source: Variety
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