Pamela Anderson The last laugh

AFTER YEARS AS A PUNCHLINE, THE STAR IS LOVING THE LIMELIGHT AND RECLAIMING HER STORY

- Jennie Noonan

Months after comedy classic The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! was released in North American cinemas in December 1988, Pamela Anderson’s life changed forever when, as a 22-year-old, she was shown wearing a cutoff beer T-shirt on the jumbotron at a football game in Vancouver, near her hometown in Canada. She was signed as the brewery’s spokesmodel, and by October 1989, she was on the cover of Playboy, kicking off decades of a roller-coaster life that played out in the public eye.

The latest twist? Soon after her 58th birthday, she'll star as a femme fatale in the Akiva Schaffer-directed reboot sequel, The Naked Gun (in cinemas July 31). “She’s my new favourite person,” Schaffer told People magazine of Anderson. “She’s gonna really surprise people with how hilarious she is.” Anderson is happy to be leaning into lightness. “It’s going to show a different side of me,” she told Harper's Bazaar. “I feel every film I do lately is healing various parts of me. And you need a big, messy life to draw from if you want to make these kinds of things interesting.”

Having established her indie film cred with her Golden Globe-nominated turn in 2024’s