Pamela Anderson’s Son Brandon Thomas Lee Made It His ‘Personal Mission’ to Shatter Hollywood’s View of His Mom https://t.co/cfuLKGEI0X
— Variety (@Variety) December 18, 2024
Brandon Thomas Lee talked to Variety about his mother Pamela Anderson’s recent success in Roadside Attractions “The Last Showgirl,” which Gia Coppola directed.
Aside from winning rave reviews from critics, Anderson landed herself a Golden Globe nomination for best actress in a drama/motion picture. Lee, an executive producer on the film, says the nomination “means a lot,” but also hopes this marks a new chapter for Anderson’s career.
He says, “It means the culmination of a very long road and a lot of hard work, and the crescendo of an amazing moment that really only marks the beginning for her.”
[Note: Lee calls his mother “Pamela” when speaking about her as an actress]
There’s a story of the script being turned down by Pamela’s former agent before even showing it to her, and you happened to come across it. Can you talk about meeting with Gia and that gut instinct that this was right for Pamela?
When I first laid eyes on it, I wasn’t really used to looking at projects like that for Pamela. It was such a breath of fresh air, and it was so impactful, and it was something I knew she could deliver on. And it was so timely, and it just seemed like the stars were aligning a bit on it and how it was playing into this arc of where she was in her career.
To that, Jamie Lee Curtis said she wanted to be in it because Pamela Anderson was going to star in it. When you hear that, what does it mean?
When I hear stuff like that, it makes me feel incredibly proud. Not just of her, but just of everything we’ve done over the last couple of years.
The documentary [Netflix’s Pamela, a Love Story] and book [Love, Pamela] gave Pamela the opportunity to own her narrative and really present that story to the world. When we had the opportunity to do that, it was something in the back of my head that I was always thinking about the goal of those projects — it wasn’t to bring opportunities, the goal of those projects was to get people to understand and get to know Pamela because there was so much misconception around her and who she was. It was really holding her back in terms of the opportunity she was being presented. So to hear Jamie say that, what else could you ask for?
You were instrumental in shattering the Hollywood stereotype. How did you navigate that?
The reason I got involved, other than for various business reasons — my personal mission was to give my mom the opportunities she gave me as a child. She would do anything for me. She showed up and was a very good mother. And at a certain point in your life, you become a protector.
[…] So, it would have been very easy for us, or for me, to come up with some sort of scheme to make money off the Pamela that people thought they knew. It would have meant she wasn’t going to be happy, but she would have been making money. But I really just wanted her to feel like she had the opportunity, whether it happened or not, to achieve success in the field she wanted to be in.
We turned down a lot of big opportunities, but it just wasn’t going to make Pamela feel proud. But we had to take a moment and be steadfast in our position, that we needed to take the time to do the memoir and documentary, and shy away from other opportunities that weren’t going to shine a light or clarify or embolden her.
[…] She wasn’t this sex symbol anymore. She was a human being, and I think people were looking at her in a completely new light. And I feel like that kind of reintroduced her to the world. It feels like everyone’s rooting for her.
Going back to “The Last Showgirl,” are you seeing a shift in the scripts coming her way?
After the documentary, there was this incredible public shift and there was a lot of attention on her, but we were still not seeing incredible stuff for Pamela. It was not until “The Last Showgirl” came along that we had something special.
So she’s going to be acting more, right?
It’s very safe to say that you’ll be seeing her on the big screen for some time.
[Note: Pamela Anderson will next be seen in the remake of The Naked Gun starring Liam Neeson, and Karim Aïnouz’s Rosebush Pruning, starring Elle Fanning.
Full interview at the source
