The one movie Pamela Anderson would love to remake: “I don’t know if anyone would think of me”
Until a few years ago, Pamela Anderson had almost completely faded from our collective memories as an actor. Yes, she was still considered an icon of the 1990s, but she had long since stopped acting and was more or less remembered as a sex symbol. That was until 2024, when she starred in Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl.
This, paired with her 2023 documentary Pamela, A Love Story and the controversial TV miniseries Pam & Tommy, brought Anderson right back into the spotlight. Shedding her makeup and donning suits and glasses, she’s become a different kind of icon in recent years and seems like she’s ready to fully commit to acting once again, so it’s interesting to consider what she might turn up in over the next few years.
It seems she has a very clear idea of where she wants to go, and in her Closet Picks episode with Criterion, she revealed the one film she would love to remake. “I gotta get Summertime… I mean, I would love to remake this. I don’t know if anyone would ever think of me for this, but David Lean is an amazing director, and I just love Katharine Hepburn.” Well, don’t we all, Pamela?
A 1955 drama, Summertime follows Hepburn as a middle-aged secretary who falls in love with an Italian antiques dealer on her solo travels in Venice. Shot on Eastmancolor film and processed by Technicolor, it’s a dreamy, romantic and beautifully shot film, with a standout performance from Hepburn as the lonely and vulnerable Jane. It’s interesting to consider what a remake of a film like this would look like today. But one thing is for sure: I’d definitely watch Anderson as Jane.
With a more mature and thoughtful return to the screen, now seems like the perfect time for her to take on such a role. And, with her effortless ponytail, oversized glasses and penchant for reading, she’d be perfect for the role of a chic but lonely secretary. Despite her doubts, I’m sure plenty of directors would be interested in casting Anderson in that part, and I am personally begging someone to do so.
But, I wouldn’t want a contemporary with a capital C take on the film. It wouldn’t be right captured in stark, smooth, and plastic digital form with modern cars zooming past and people on their phones. No, it would need to be done right, and Anderson feels the same. After all, the melodrama of the old stars is what inspires her. “You know, this is the style of acting that I love. The passion and the importance of the craft, and when I watch her. That’s the kinda of actress I would love to be. Not a contemporary actress but an actress from that time,” she told Criterion.
There’s no doubting the differences between acting then and now. What with the transatlantic accents, over-acting and always a touch of the camp, things were just so much more theatrical! But this is a quality that Anderson already seems to embody, even in something like The Last Showgirl. With her breathy delivery of lines that tumble out of her passionately, and her teary crooked smile as she prepares for her last show or her dramatic outburst at Dave Bautista’s Eddie in the middle of a restaurant.
She fully inhabits that old-school, troubled and declining star, so it would be interesting to see her be able to fully let loose with this on a remake of an Old Hollywood film. So, who’s gonna take the chance?
