Pamela Anderson documentary tells a side of the actor's story the public has never heard: her own

Pamela Anderson's story is a familiar one for many — the former Baywatch star and Playboy covergirl was a pillar of pop culture in the 1990s and 2000s.

But during the Toronto red carpet premiere of her Netflix documentary Pamela: A Love Story, which pulls from the Canadian-American actor's personal archive, Anderson says she finally got to tell a version of events that the public has never heard: her own.

"I've just always been kind of an observer in my life," Anderson told CBC's Eli Glasner at the TIFF Bell Lightbox on Tuesday. "I feel like I'm watching someone have this life, because it was [maybe] a little bit different than who I really was."

"So here we are," she said. "I put that behind me. The past is done."

Anderson has had a busy year. The Jan. 31 release of Pamela: A Love Story coincided with the publication of her memoir, Love, Pamela, in which the actor wrote about her time in Hollywood and reflected on a traumatic childhood in B.C. 

Her home improvement reality series Pamela's Garden of Eden saw Anderson return to her hometown of Ladysmith, B.C., to transform her late grandmother's home — and her recently announced cooking show, Pamela's Cooking With Love, will premiere in 2024.

But Anderson has also gone through darker moments recently, with the release of the FX miniseries Pam & Tommy in February 2022. The Emmy-nominated series starring Lily James and Sebastian Stan dramatized Anderson's marriage to rockstar Tommy Lee, particularly the events that led to the theft and release of their infamous 1996 sex tape, which the actor has long blamed for derailing her career.

Setting the record straight

Anderson publicly responded to the miniseries in an interview last month with Variety magazine, calling it "crushing," and saying that its creators still owe her an apology. On Tuesday evening, she said the documentary was a matter of setting the record straight.

"I think it was really important for me to tell my story for me, because there's been a lot of piecemealed things," she said.

Anderson's mission follows a trend of female celebrities like Britney Spears and Janet Jackson who are using their platforms to reclaim their stories, years after enduring intense personal struggles and professional exploitation in front of the world.

"I don't think it's just women in the public eye, I think it's women in general," Anderson said, noting she's grateful times have changed. 

"We kind of smile our way through a lot of things but I think it's really important to kind of honour those times and feel your feelings and move forward with, you know, grace and joy, no matter what."

Anderson's son encouraged project

Her son, Brandon Thomas Lee, a producer of Pamela: A Love Story, accompanied her on the red carpet. Lee and director Ryan White went through Anderson's personal archive to gather material for the documentary.

"I think it's just been a lifetime of people really trying to define her, and I think that everyone's had a voice in her career and her life besides her," Lee said. He recalled an early conversation that eventually led to the creation of the film.

"I said, 'Listen, you know, at this point in your life, there's still so much left for you to do. The time is now, while you still want to go out and work and you still want to accomplish things. You still want to do different projects.' No one wants to get the story straight when they're 90 and there's not a lot [of time] left."

Pamela: A Love Story uses personal home videos, diary entries and interviews — as well as archived footage of media appearances — to share a different version of Anderson's story. The actor says the response has been a "real great love fest."

"I'm really grateful, I'm really happy, and if I helped anybody, that made it worth it."