Even today, Pamela Anderson is synonymous with Baywatch. For years, the actress famously starred as lifeguard CJ Parker before moving on to pursue other roles in Hollywood.
And while the show essentially launched her acting career, Anderson has since admitted that she has mixed feelings about her time on Baywatch. This admission comes as the actress opens up in her new Netflix documentary Pamela: A Love Story.
Pamela Anderson Landed Her Baywatch Role After Missing Several Auditions
By the time Anderson was asked to audition for Baywatch, she was already starting to make a name for herself, having become a Playboy model after being initially discovered by a Labatt’s Beer scout.
“Baywatch had always pursued me since Playboy, and they said I was famous before I walked in the door, for never showing up,” the actress said. “They didn't really think it was going to be a big character.” But then Anderson became iconic as CJ.
The actress would remain in Baywatch for five seasons before deciding to exit. Back in 1996, it was announced that Anderson wasn’t returning for season 8 because she “wanted to diversify and supplement her career, going more in the direction of feature films, TV movies, homevideo [sic] and animation.”
“The last five years have been wonderful,” Anderson also said in a statement. “I’ll miss the cast and crew tremendously. Giving birth to my son, Brandon, has opened my mind to explore new personal and professional opportunities. But I have no expectations about being a big movie star.”
Years later, Anderson would also reveal that her main motivation for leaving the show was her desire to focus on motherhood.
“I had two babies on Baywatch,” she said. “It was just time to take a break from that and move on, but it wasn't because I thought I was some big brand. I just — I always wanted to be a mom. Once I had two, and, you know, my crazy marriage, I was like, I can't do everything. So I quit.”
Looking Back On Her Time On Baywatch, She Says, ‘You Kind Of Sign Your Life Away’
Despite Anderson’s popularity on Baywatch, the most she received from the show was $300,000 per episode towards the end of her time there. Meanwhile, David Hasselhoff, the show’s main star, is believed to have earned a lot more.
Since he also served as a producer on the show, Hasselhoff also made a fortune when Amazon Prime licensed the show’s remastered version for its library back in 2019.
Looking back, Anderson knows she could have positioned herself better but back then, the actress couldn’t do anything.
“The producers of Baywatch made a fortune. I just didn’t have the representation back then. Or the know-how,” she said. “You don’t realize when you’re doing a TV show that it’s going to be that popular, so you kind of sign your life away.”
Meanwhile, Brandon Thomas Lee, Anderson’s older son who produced the actress’ Netflix documentary, is not one to mince words, saying that his mom was “definitely taken advantage of.”
“And it still feels weird how there hasn’t been some sort of discussion with Amazon or the ‘Baywatch’ producers to get her her fair share,” Lee continued.
“It’s funny how it works with Dave Chappelle with Netflix; he can somehow go back and get paid for a show that he didn’t own anything of. And with the Amazon library deal, we didn’t get a penny.”
Pamela Anderson Was Later Asked To Appear In The Baywatch Movie As A ‘Favor’
And while Anderson seemingly put her Baywatch past behind her, the actress ended up making a very brief cameo in Seth Gordon’s 2017 Baywatch movie, which stars Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, and Alexandra Daddario.
Hasselhoff also made an appearance in the film. And while it’s unclear how much he was paid, Anderson revealed that movie producers (which also includes Johnson) didn’t want to pay her at all even after they kept calling nonstop.
“It was becoming really, really awful,” Anderson recalled. “They said they wanted me to do it as a favor. I said, ‘I do favors for animals, not for Paramount.’ There was just so much bullying to do it. They wanted me to do it for free, as an homage or something. I said, ‘Come on, guys. I mean, really?’”
Eventually, Anderson agreed. But she had no dialogue. All that the actress had to do on set was walk in slow motion. And while there was tension between Anderson and the studio, it seems the actress got along well with the main star Johnson.
“She introduced the world to “CJ Parker” and became one of the most iconic characters of a generation – for the most successful TV show of all time,” The Rock posted on Instagram.
“A pleasure to welcome (as gorgeous as ever) Pamela Anderson to our #BAYWATCH cast. We couldn’t have made this movie without you. Welcome home. Thrilled you had a blast with us!”
Despite all the love on set, Anderson would go on to blast the movie, which was also poorly rated by critics. “I didn’t like it,” the actress admitted during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
“Let’s just keep the bad TV as bad TV. That’s what’s charming about Baywatch, you know? Trying to make these movies out of television, is just messing with it.”
Safe to say, Anderson will not return to Baywatch again.
