The Toronto International Film Festival upped the razzle dazzle factor on the second day of its 49th edition with the world premiere of “The Last Showgirl,” a Vegas-set drama that sees star Pamela Anderson enter the awards-season conversation for the first time in her iconic career.
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The film, directed by Gia Coppola (“Palo Alto”), follows a 30-year veteran dancer, who toils in sequin in the last remaining traditional floor show in the gambling mecca known as Sin City. Dave Bautista plays the show’s stage manager, who must deliver the news to the dancers that their act will close permanently in two weeks. “Mad Men” star Kiernan Shipka and Brenda Song are the next-gen dancers who perform alongside Anderson, while Billie Lourd portrays her estranged daughter. Recent Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis, with a perma-tan and frosted lipstick, brings the comic relief as a Vegas cocktail waitress who must endure degrading customers as she continues to hustle for tips in a casino.
Anderson received thunderous applause as she appeared for a Q&A after the credits rolled. Wearing black pants, a black blouse and dark sunglasses, the star spoke about the journey from ’90s sex symbol to playing Shelley, a dreamer who gets pushed aside in the Vegas churn because of her age. “I’ve been getting ready my whole life for this film,” she deadpanned to huge laughter. “I never felt something so strongly about something [as this film]. It was do it, just be it, and I did it.”
Anderson, a native Canadian who became a legend in a red swimsuit on the long-running series “Baywatch,” is enjoying a major career renaissance following last year’s Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary “Pamela, A Love Story” and a best-selling memoir “Love Pamela.” “Last Showgirl” offers a very different side to the oft-objectified Playboy model-turned-tabloid fixture. But 2023 marked a pivotal year for Anderson as notable directors like Coppola began chasing her. She recently signed with CAA, which is selling “The Last Showgirl” at this year’s TIFF market.
Curtis broke down in tears as she paid homage to the people who service the casinos and accompanying Vegas economy, most struggling paycheck to paycheck. “It’s really hard for people in Vegas. A really hard life,” she said, voice breaking. “The dreams become a really harsh fucking reality, especially for women.” She added that Hollywood, with its emphasis on youth and disposability, isn’t dissimilar from Vegas, noting, “I’m a product of that same reality.”
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Lourd said the film gave her a new perspective on her relationship with her mother, the late Carrie Fisher, as well as her mother’s relationship with her grandmother, the late Debbie Reynolds. “I got to understand my mom on a deeper level,” Lourd said of her role playing opposite Anderson. “And Pamela was an absolute gift.” The two actresses then crossed over the stage to hug.
The Toronto festival serves as a homecoming for Anderson, a native Canadian who hails from British Columbia. A steady rain couldn’t dampen the mood inside the Princess of Wales Theatre. In one scene, Anderson endures a humiliating audition, in which a male producer cuts her dance performance short and calls her by the wrong name while explaining that she’s just not young or sexy any longer.
“I’m 57 and I’m beautiful, you son of a bitch,” she says, drawing whoops from the audience.
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