It took Lily James four hours of daily makeup to slip into the skin of Pamela Anderson.
The young British actress is well placed to know: it is not so easy to walk in the footsteps of the heroine of
Baywatch
(1989).
In
Pam & Tommy
, a series unveiled at the beginning of February on Disney +, and signed Robert Siegel, this ex-heroine of
Downton Abbey
embodies the sulphurous icon of the small screen, confronted with the theft of her sex tape, then its dissemination on the web .
A show that the main interested party would never have watched.
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Did Pamela Anderson choose to flee this painful memory at all costs?
Or does she harbor a tenacious resentment towards Robert Siegel, whose requests to participate have remained a dead letter?
Probably a bit of both.
“I know she will never watch that (…), confided an anonymous witness to
Entertainment Weekly
, mid-February.
Not even the trailer.
Before adding: “She does not regret anything in her life.
The only thing she would probably erase is this burglary.
She still feels so violated in her privacy.
The Sex Tape Affair
Full screen
Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee immortalized arm in arm in New York.
(September 17, 1995.) Getty
No one has forgotten the scandal caused by one of the first acts of
revenge porn
in the history of the web.
In January 1996, Pamela Anderson and her husband Tommy Lee, drummer of the group Mötley Crüe, find the disappearance of their sex tape, shot a few months earlier, during a vacation in Lake Mead, in the United States.
The author of the theft is none other than Rand Gauthier, the electrician responsible for the renovation of their house in Malibu.
This maintains certain grievances against the couple, who owe him 20,000 dollars (19,000 euros).
In addition, the craftsman would have seen himself sacked bluntly, before being chased out of the house by a Tommy Lee armed with a rifle.
The worker cannot suffer such humiliation.
During the summer of 1995, he breaks into the Malibu house, steals the Lee's safe and discovers a tape of their antics.
A video he decides to sell to a webcasting company, Internet Entertainment.
Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee file a complaint against the company, with which they conclude an amicable agreement.
This does not prevent the company from broadcasting the sequence - and tripling the traffic of its sites at the same time.
The actress, then seven months pregnant, ended up dropping the charges, tired of having to "talk about her vagina" to "weird and libidinous lawyers", as she explained in 2015 on the show "Watch What Happens Live ".
'Not a victim, but a survivor'
Since then, Pamela Anderson has taken over the reins of her story.
At the beginning of March, the actress announced on a new Instagram account, freshly created, the upcoming release of a Netflix documentary devoted to her journey.
“My life, can we read in the caption of the post.
A thousand imperfections.
A million misperceptions.
Wicked, wild and lost.
Nothing to hope for.
I can only surprise you.
Not a victim, but a survivor.
And alive to tell the real story.”
Three months and 1.4 million subscribers later, the star of
Barb Wire
(1996) still observes a religious silence on the social network.
At 55, Pamela Anderson has nevertheless launched a new professional challenge: that of playing Roxie Hart in a new adaptation of the musical
Chicago
, on Broadway.
His performance, provided from April 12 to June 5, won over critics.
At the same time, she is already working on her memoirs.
"When I was younger, I regained power in certain situations, and that's what I do again now," she told
CNN
in April.
Faced with the failure of her successive unions, media scandals and professional wanderings, the actress is officially making her return to the limelight.
The t-shirt that changed everything
Pamela Anderson was 22 when her face first caught the spotlight.
In 1989, the image of this young fitness teacher, spotted in the audience of an American football match, appeared on a giant screen in the BC Place stadium.
His Labatt t-shirt - a Canadian beer brand - appeals to representatives of the brand.
They offer this statuesque blonde to become its spokesperson.
An offer that the young woman, born July 1, 1967 in Ladysmith, Canada, cannot refuse.
Daughter of a boiler repairman with a pronounced penchant for alcohol, and of a waitress, Pamela Anderson dreams of elsewhere.
But above all, to escape the traumas of his childhood.
The urge to “leave Earth”
In 2014, the former playmate, who grew up alongside her brother Barry, split painful revelations on the occasion of the launch of her foundation “for the protection of human, animal and environmental rights”.
"I didn't have an easy childhood," she confides.
I was sexually assaulted by a babysitter when I was 6 years old."
Six years later, the little girl was raped by the older brother of one of her friends, then 25 years old.
“He decided to teach me backgammon, then massaged my back, before raping me,” she recounts during the conference.
His love life also begins in a tragic way.
“My first boyfriend decided it would be fun to rape me in a gang, with six of his friends,” she continues.
Episodes of such violence that they inspire the young waitress with the desire to "leave Earth".
"I was praying to the whales"
Full screen
Pamela Anderson locks herself in a cage, Place de la République, to denounce the intensive breeding of animals.
(Paris, October 10, 2018.) Abaca
His salvation will come from his love for animals.
“I prayed to the whales, with my feet in the ocean, she recalls during the interview.
They were my only friends before I had children.
Since then, the actress has been campaigning alongside the NGO People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), in particular against the wearing of fur, intensive breeding and experimentation on animals.
Her commitment earned her several high-profile visits to France – a country that the actress has graced with multiple unexpected appearances.
Among them, her mythical arrival in a leather suit, for the preview of
Barb Wire
at the Cannes Film Festival, or her wink in the clip
Le lac
by Julien Doré, in 2016. The actress also provides several interventions in favor of animal rights.
She thus intervened in the National Assembly, in 2016, and took a stand against the force-feeding of geese and ducks.
A speech that triggers a wave of sexist comments from his audience.
“She knows nothing about it, is indignant at the time Patrick Ollier, deputy LR.
No silicone in foie gras.
Let her keep running.
It will bring back memories.”
Two years later, the actress shines again in France.
She thus locks herself in a cage, alongside Maxime Dereymez, in order to protest against the conditions of intensive animal husbandry.
A fight carried by the international aura of the actress.
22 years of
Playboy
Full screen
Pamela Anderson officiates in the
Papa Bricole
series .
(July 23, 1992.) Getty Images
It was in 1989 that Pamela Anderson's career exploded.
In October, she appeared on the cover of
Playboy
for the first time .
We see her dressed in a student uniform jacket, ajar on her bare chest, and wearing a hat hiding her private parts.
The beginning of a long series of shootings for the magazine, in the pages of which she will pose for 22 years.
At the beginning of the 1990s, the playmate moved to Los Angeles, had her breasts redone and began an acting career in the
Papa Bricole
series .
"Ultimate Californian"
In 1992, Pamela Anderson landed the role that would change everything: that of CJ Parker, heroine of
Baywatch
.
Very quickly, the young woman becomes a pop icon.
In addition to her essential red swimsuit, her looks, made up of perfectos, denim shorts and plunging necklines, give her an immortal silhouette.
And thirty years later, the “Pam” bun, inspired by the hairstyle of the model, still arouses the same enthusiasm on TikTok.
"I'm the ultimate Californian, which is funny, knowing that I'm Canadian," the interested party slipped in one day.
“We were like two children”
His private life turns out to be as politically incorrect as his magazine covers.
At the start of her career, Pamela Anderson multiplied her flirtations, with actors Scott Baio or David Charvet, her filming partner in the NBC series.
But his meeting with Tommy Lee, during New Year's Eve 1995, marked a turning point in his sentimental life.
"Tommy and I started a very intense, fun and crazy relationship, because we were like two children," she said in 1998.
Before adding: “We were madly in love.
It wasn't like drugs, alcohol, or anything like that.
We were both really passionate about life.”
The Mötley Crüe drummer quickly splits a marriage proposal.
And for them, no question of a banal engagement ring: Pam and Tommy decide to have their respective first names tattooed on their ring finger - which will cause the actress to catch hepatitis C. In February 1995, a months after meeting, the couple sealed their union on a beach in Cancun, Mexico.
From this marriage will be born two sons: Brandon, in 1996, then Dylan, in 1997, who respectively became an entrepreneur and a musician.
Six months in prison
The same year, Pamela Anderson leaves
Alert in Malibu –
and her companion in stride.
The actress accuses Tommy Lee of domestic violence.
He was sentenced to six months in prison.
The two spouses will nevertheless continue to see each other before giving each other another chance in 2008. Then to separate in 2010, this time for good.
The actress will then pass the altar five times.
After the end of her union with Tommy Lee, Pamela Anderson fell in love with the singer Kid Rock, rival of her ex-husband, in 2006. Both sealed their union on a yacht, in Saint-Tropez, in the presence of Cindy Crawford and by Tommy Hilfiger.
In November, Pamela Anderson suffered a miscarriage, then separated from the artist the following year.
From then on, the actress knows marriages as expeditious as hectic.
Two unions in 2020
She married twice Rick Salomon, the ex-companion of Paris Hilton.
Their first marriage, which lasted from 2007 to 2008, ended in a breakup, amid accusations of fraud.
In 2014, they married again, before breaking up a year later.
In early 2020, Pamela Anderson got engaged to producer Jon Peters.
The duo had met in the mid-1980s, during a party at the Playboy mansion, before starting a romance.
Pamela Anderson would have refused his marriage proposal at the time.
Their union, finally celebrated on January 20, 2020, will last only twelve days.
In December of the same year, Pamela Anderson is again at the altar.
The actress fell in love with Dan Hayhurst, her bodyguard.
But the actress will end up filing for divorce, thirteen months after getting married.
The main interested party would not have been “nice” or “very supportive” towards him, he whispers to himself.
The “double life” of Adil Rami
Full screen
Adil Rami and Pamela Anderson attend the UNFP Trophy Awards ceremony.
(Paris, May 19, 2019.) Abaca
Since her debut, the actress has been credited with a multitude of romances, from her story with singer Usher to her romance with surfer Kelly Slater, passing through her relationships with Swedish model Markus Schenkenberg, pilot Eddie Irvine and the whistleblower Julian Assange.
But it is his love story with footballer Adil Rami, formalized in 2017, which is causing a stir.
In 2019, she announced their breakup on her Instagram account, which has since been deleted, and accused the professional athlete of domestic violence.
She also claims that he leads a “double life” with his ex-girlfriend, Sidonie Biémont, and declares, with supporting video, that he subjected her to real “physical and emotional torture”.
In video, Pamela Anderson accuses Adil Rami of violence and publishes a video to prove it
Eight hours of rehearsals per day
Two years after the end of her last flash marriage, Pamela Anderson received a decisive call in early 2022.
That of producer Barry Weissler, who therefore offered him a role in
Chicago
.
Pamela Anderson, who entrenched herself “in her small ranch in Canada”, with “her dogs and in the middle of her gardens”, lets herself be convinced.
The 50-year-old throws herself headlong into rehearsals, sometimes training up to eight hours a day.
She now considers the role of Roxie Hart as the most important of her career.
“I always knew, even as a young girl, that I was going to do something unexpected… Not to prove people wrong, but just to prove to myself that I was capable of something much bigger”, she recently declared at the microphone of CNN.
An icon worthy of the name, which has not finished reinventing itself.
