Pamela Anderson's son reveals why her Baywatch typecasting caused him to push her to reinvent her career
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Pamela Anderson's son Brandon Thomas Lee spoke out about how he made it his mission to help his mother shift her narrative from sex symbol to human being - and to aid her in following her dreams.
Brandon, 27, spoke to Variety about his mother, 57, and the shift in her career and public image, revealing that he wanted to personally help her accomplish that.
'My personal mission was to give my mom the opportunities she gave me as a child,' he told the outlet.
'She would do anything for me. She showed up and was a very good mother. And at a certain point in your life, you become a protector,' he added.
Brandon, who overseas the family's business affairs, noted that he wanted his mom to 'have the opportunity' to 'achieve success in the field she wants to be in.'
Pamela - who got her start in Playboy magazine and then became a household name thanks to her role as CJ Parker on Baywatch - successfully pivoted the direction of her career - leading her to get nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Actress category for her performance in The Last Showgirl.
Pamela Anderson 's son Brandon Thomas Lee spoke out about how he made it his mission to help his mother shift her narrative from sex symbol to human being - and to aid her in following her dreams Pamela seen with her sons Brandon Thomas Lee (left) and Dylan Jagger Lee (right) on January 30, 2023 in LA
Pamela has two sons with ex-husband Tommy Lee: Brandon and Dylan, 26.
Pamela's Golden Globe nomination for The Last Showgirl is the first ever Globe nomination she has received.
The star received rave reviews for her portrayal of Shelley, a faded Las Vegas showgirl, in the film The Last Showgirl - directed by Gia Coppola.
She stars alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, Brenda Song, Billie Lourd, Kiernan Shipka and Dave Bautista.
Pamela is up against Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet, Nicole Kidman, Tilda Swinton and Fernanda Torres in the Best Actress- Drama Category for the upcoming Golden Globes.
The star shared an inspirational message to People after her nomination: 'I shared this beautiful nomination with The Last Showgirl Family, my family, and my hard working companions on this interesting journey. It is never too late to dream, to start again, to stay open to possibilities - we are not all so lucky.'
Adding: 'I wish everyone my love and thanks while I navigate this new exciting chapter.'
Brandon explained to Variety that he knew at an early age he was going to 'be the one that put the stake in the ground' for his family and 'rally around that.'
He noted that it would 'have been easy for us or for me to come up with some sort of scheme to make money off the Pamela that people thought they knew' - which was Pamela the sex symbol - but he said that would be at the cost of his mother's happiness.
Brandon, 27, spoke to Variety about his mother, 57, and the shift in her career and public image, revealing that he wanted to personally help her accomplish that; Pamela seen December 2
Pamela - who got her start in Playboy magazine and then became a household name thanks to her role on Baywatch - successfully pivoted the direction of her career - leading her to get nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Actress category for her performance in The Last Showgirl; pictured in a still from The Last Showgirl
Brandon explained that his goal was to make his mom 'feel like she had the opportunity, whether it happened or not, to achieve success in the field she wanted to be in.'
The focus was to shift the narrative and refocus her career from the male gaze to the female gaze - which she achieved through her memoir Love, Pamela and documentary Pamela, A Love Story.
'We had to take a moment and be steadfast in our position, that we needed to take the time to do the memoir and documentary, and shy away from other opportunities that weren't going to shine a light or clarify or embolden her,' he told Variety.
Prior to her memoir and documentary, Pamela was in a category where she was objectified and her career was for the male gaze, he said, and after the two projects released, her career shifted - with people beginning to view her as a human being, and as a result, reintroduced her to the world.
He noted that the whole point of the documentary was to show she had the 'chops' to take on different types of acting roles, not to 'prove her as an actress' and to get people to 'understand and get to know' her.
He wanted his mom to release the book and documentary in order for her to 'own her narrative' and share her own story to the world.
Brandon said that when he first saw the script for The Last Showgirl, it was 'a breath of fresh air,' because he wasn't used to seeing projects like that pitched to his mom.
He recalled that he met with Gia and the producer of the project - Robert Schwartzman - with the purpose of making sure that this would be a 'comeback performance' for his mom and that they could trust them with that.
Brandon said that when he gave the script for his mom to look at, she immediately read it and said she wanted to do the project, saying that the character Shelley 'spoke to her.'
Prior to her memoir and documentary, Pamela was in a category where she was objectified and her career was for the male gaze, he said, and after the two projects released, her career shifted - with people beginning to view her as a human being, and as a result, reintroduced her to the world; Pamela seen in a Baywatch promo still from 1992
'My personal mission was to give my mom the opportunities she gave me as a child,' he told the outlet. 'She would do anything for me. She showed up and was a very good mother. And at a certain point in your life, you become a protector,' he added; Pamela with sons Brandon (left) and Dylan (right) in August 2015 in LA
Pamela has previously mentioned that the Hulu project - Pamela and Tommy - which starred Lily James and Sebastian Stan - was 'salt on the wound' - via her interview with Variety last year - as it was an incredibly painful time in her life.
The project, which was released in 2022, focused on her and Tommy's sex tape that was stolen and illegally distributed.
Pamela told Variety in 2023 that the Pam & Tommy series took away from her own accomplishments - like her starring role in Broadway's Chicago as Roxy Hart - which was during the same time as when the series aired on Hulu.
'It was just shocking. Tommy probably thought it was funny. I remember Tommy writing me a note saying, "Don't let this hurt you like it did the first time," because he had heard through the kids that I was kind of struggling with the idea of bringing this all up again. I don't think he was portrayed kindly. I just know that i refuse to watch it,' she said to the outlet.
Adding that she thought the creators behind the series as 'a******s,': 'Salt on the wound... You still owe me a public apology.'
When Brandon was asked by Variety his view on the series, he said while he didn't have any thoughts on it, he did say that it led to 'more people talking' about his mom and help accomplish his mission of helping his mom achieve her goals.
Adding that 'we just tend to take what we see and move forward, and that's my thought on it.'
The Golden Globes airs on Sunday, January 5th, 2025.
