Pamela Anderson had a no makeup rule on ‘The Last Showgirl’ set for certain scenes: ‘That was the first time I’ve ever done that,’ Brenda Song says

Brenda Song knew she wanted to be a part of the film The Last Showgirl as soon as she heard that Pamela Anderson was its star.

“I was like, ‘A showgirl movie with Pamela Anderson! Yes!’” she told Yahoo Entertainment. “Who doesn’t want to be a showgirl?”

The movie follows a performer played by Anderson as she reckons with her future after finding out the show she’s a part of is closing after 30 years. Her friends and co-workers in Las Vegas, who range in age from their teens to their 50s, struggle to figure out how they might move on from a career many of them have been chasing since childhood.

Song, a former Disney Channel child star, said she then fell in love with the “clear and strong” vision director Gia Coppola had for the film and how the script follows four women at a crossroads in their lives.

“It resonated with me as a new mom at a crossroads in my career,” she said. “I was desperate to be a part of this movie. I was like, ‘I’ll hang the lights! I’ll be your [production assistant]! I’ll do anything!’”

At one point in the film, Song’s character opens up about how difficult it is to book a gig as a dancer when she no longer looks like a teenager. Song said that as an actor, she’s “always questioning” what society says about women as they get older.

“I love that we combat that in the movie,” she said. “Pamela, Jamie [Lee Curtis] and Gia — all these women are so unapologetically themselves. I felt like I could take on the world after making this movie because I was surrounded by these incredible women who were so strong, so powerful and so talented.”

Song was particularly inspired by Anderson’s presence on set, which kept the mood lifted and the performances authentic.

“I always say, ‘I just gotta Pam it out,’” she joked. “That’s why I’m so happy when I see her getting her flowers for being so unapologetically Pam.”

When they weren’t dressed up as showgirls, Song said the cast was wearing “literally zero makeup.”

“That was the first time I’ve ever done that. Even as a kid, they would always put powder on me. That’s all because of Pam,” she said. “This project helped me push back and say, ‘Who cares? I’m me! I’m 36 and beautiful!’”

Kiernan Shipka, also a former child star, told Yahoo Entertainment that she was moved by the “collective energy” on set, which made it feel like “everyone wants to be here 100%.”

Shipka’s character in the film is just 19 when the show ends. She left her family and schooling behind to pursue dancing, and yet she struggled to find a new gig, leaving her in the same spot as her older colleagues.

“There’s something really scary about that [age] and not knowing what’s going on, but there’s also something very poignant about [Anderson’s character] looking back and knowing that things could have been different,” she said. “Both are valid and painful experiences, and both hit me in different ways because I’m always one to … look back on life and pick apart what I did or wish I enjoyed more.”

Though the movie might center on the pain of outgrowing something you love, with the cast, Shipka found a “supportive, beautiful environment.”

“It wasn’t about age — it was about women coming together to bolster each other up,” she said.

The Last Showgirl is now in theaters.

EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel