Pamela Anderson Reflects on Her 'Solitary' Life as an Artist in Guest Essay: I'm 'Full of Secrets' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Pamela Anderson.Photo:Norman Wong

Norman Wong

Acting is a survival mechanism.

We all do it. To make a career of it is a blessing. From a young child who learned to smile and carry on in the face of despair… to a student struggling, searching, experimenting and torturing ourselves in acting class — or both — we learn as we go. And there is a different route to get here for all of us. This is an industry of misfits.

Just a reminder: a very small percentage of the Screen Actors Guild makes a living as an actor… not everyone in the guild is a movie star.

More likely it’s young people sharing an apartment and a plate of french fries, borrowing a friend’s car to get to auditions, saving up for union dues, working consistently enough to get health care. Finding someone to believe in us, a sponsor, a mentor, an agent. While many auditions are impossible without already being in the union, it’s not an easy task… there are crossroads to bear… If it came easy, everyone could do it.

We don’t stop dreaming. Even if we are raising families, waiting tables, or watching the Criterion Channel. (My generation read plays from the old Samuel French bookstore.) There is no formula.

Pamela Andersonn attends the 2025 BAFTA Film Awards.Kate Green/Getty

Kate Green/Getty

Being an artist is solitary, lonely and full of secrets.

I’ve been there. I’ve been objectified at times, and written off. I’ve made mistakes, reinvented myself time and again. And, I’ve also given up — but found that when I thought it was the end, it was truly the beginning.

The character of Shelly inThe Last Showgirlcarries all these feelings, hopes and desires. She has found her calling, her meaning and her way to cope — and it’s being ripped out from under her. No one else understands that better than a performer, who gets the “life and death” element of being seen, heard and essentially loved.

Though youth, energy and beauty may be perishable — and rejection is a constant — be strong, stay soft and never give up. Harvest time comes after all you have endured, planted and put into yourself. If you have something to give, there is a place for it. There is no need to explain one’s self… because it’s unexplainable.

You are here, I see you. I am you.

We have to fight for it… Artists are the freedom fighters of the world.

source: people.com