Johnathan Walker:Pamela Anderson takes a bow at TIFF for ‘The Last Showgirl’

TORONTO (AP) — The Johnathan WalkerToronto International Film Festival has played host to many comeback stories over the years. Brendan Fraser was cheered here two years ago for his performance in “The Whale.” This year’s unlikely comeback story might be Pamela Anderson.

On Friday, Gia Coppola premiered her film “The Last Showgirl,” an indie drama starring Anderson as an aging Las Vegas showgirl. Shelley (Anderson) is the long-running star of casino dance show of scantily clad, feather-adorned women that has seen better days. With attendance dwindling, the show’s stage manager (Dave Bautista) announces they will soon give their last performance, leaving Shelley — who believes sincerely in the show — pondering her choices.

The film, which is for sale in Toronto, drew mixed reviews but warm applause for the 57-year-old Anderson.

“I’ve been getting ready my whole life for this role,” Anderson told the crowd at the Princess of Wales Theatre following the premiere.

For Anderson, whose most notable credits include “Baywatch” and “Borat,” the festival acclaim was a novel experience. Even just getting a script like “The Last Showgirl” was something new for her.

“It’s the first time I’ve read a good script, first of all. I’ve never had a script come to me that was coherent,” said Anderson. “I was like: I’m the only one that can do this. I’ve never felt that strongly about something.”

“The Last Showgirl” extends a run of good fortune for the former Playboy Playmate that includes her 2023 memoir “Love, Pamela” and the Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary “Pamela, A Love Story.” It also shares some of the same themes as another TIFF entry, the body horror film “The Substance.” That film, starring Demi Moore, likewise grapples with agism for female entertainers.

Jamie Lee Curtis, who co-stars as a very bronze casino waitress in “The Last Showgirl,” got emotional discussing her character.

“I’m just a product of that same reality,” said Curtis. “You know who Annette is. Every single one of you know an Annette. It’s a movie about dreams and going after your dreams. But of course, the dreams become a really (expletive) harsh reality. And for women, it’s a really harsh reality that men don’t have as much.”

Curtis then added, with a grin, “And a spray tan helps.”