Apparently, being considered one of the world's most highly sought-after women isn't all it's cracked up to be.
In fact, according to 90s fashion icon and Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, being suddenly handed 'sex symbol' status in her mid twenties while attempting to launch a professional career proved to be 'scary at times'.
Speaking on Elizabeth Day's How to Fail podcast this week, the 58-year-old reflected on her years in showbiz, detailing how her rise to fame came at a cost, and revealing why nowadays she's proud to go au natural in terms of cosmetics.
For those in need of a reminder, Anderson became a Playboy model after being discovered at a Canadian Football League in Vancouver, having been featured on the big screen donning a beer t-shirt. She went on to land a role in ABC sitcom Home Improvement, before achieving global stardom for starring as C.J. Parker in Baywatch, which saw her viewed as one of the most desirable women on the planet.
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After her sex tape with husband Tommy Lee was leaked without her consent in the mid-90s, however, the mother-of-two endured a somewhat stagnant career for some time, only landing minor roles in comedies like Scary Movie 3 and Borat.
In the 2020s, though, her career reignited following the release of the 2023 Netflix documentary Pamela, a Love Story, which coincided with the release of her autobiography. She also starred in the 2024 indie-drama film The Last Showgirl, which earned her both Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
Looking back at her resurgence this week during her podcast appearance, Anderson admitted she believes her sex symbol status inflicted more harm than good, describing it as a 'slippery slope'.
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"I don’t like being a sex symbol," she told Day. "I mean, I think it’s not very sexy. I think we all aspire to be sexy in our relationships, but sexy for the world is, I don’t know.
"It brought a lot of attention I didn’t like.
"But I hate to say that because I’m not complaining, but I do feel that is a slippery slope where you are presenting yourself to the world like this and you get this attention back, that can be even scary at times."
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Comparing her confidence now to how she felt at the height of her 90s career, Anderson explained: "Me not wearing make-up and me being at this age, coming into this part of my career, I felt it was important for me in my personal life, to be more natural.
"I want to challenge myself and become and to be, present myself in different ways because women are many things. We’re not just the wild animal between the sheets."
The former model first went make-up free during Paris Fashion Week in 2023, surprising spectators with her naturally glowy skin and bare lashes.
Since then, it's become somewhat of a rarity to see her in full glam. She insists, however, that this shouldn't be seen as her 'letting herself go'.
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"I don’t feel like I look like a mess when I walk out the door," she continued. "I’m just peeling it back to see who I am."
Anderson continued: "We have these generational habits, the way that we’re brought up even, and just these things stick in our head, so I want to break free of that.
"I feel like this is a little bit of a rebel move is to be who you want to be, like what is beauty? Beauty’s subjective?"
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She added: "We don’t have to look like the covers of magazines.
"We don’t have to do the industry standard, which everybody was so horrified when I decided I didn’t need a glam team for certain events.”
Topics: Celebrity, Make-Up, Pamela Anderson, US News
Rhianna Benson