Pamela Anderson has closed the door on returning to the franchise that made her famous, telling Deadline she has no plans to appear in Fox’s upcoming “Baywatch” reboot. Asked whether she would consider joining a revival that already includes original cast members David Chokachi and Erika Eleniak, Anderson said, “No one’s reached out to me. I don’t know much” about the project, adding flatly that she has no intention of going back. She left room for one exception, noting she might have reconsidered had her own children pushed her to do it.
The comments came during a conversation tied to her new film, “Rosebush Pruning,” which opened in U.S. theaters Friday after debuting earlier in Germany and the United Kingdom. Directed by Karim Aïnouz from a script by Efthimis Filippou, the movie follows a wealthy American family living in self-imposed isolation in Spain, whose buried tensions surface once an outsider enters their orbit. Anderson plays the family’s matriarch, a role she has described as a sharp break from the parts that once defined her career.
Anderson used the interview to trace how far she has come from the tabloid attention that followed her breakout years. She said she once felt she had trapped herself by chasing the visibility that came with hit shows and constant headlines, believing it left little room for anyone to see her as a serious dramatic actress.
That perception began shifting with her Tony-nominated Broadway turn as Roxie Hart in “Chicago,” followed by her Golden Globe-nominated performance in 2024’s “The Last Showgirl” and a comedic role opposite Liam Neeson in last year’s “The Naked Gun” reboot.
“Rosebush Pruning” continues that pivot toward riskier material. Anderson said she is drawn to collaborators willing to take chances and wants to keep testing herself across different kinds of roles, embracing a look and story further from her past image than audiences might expect.
The film has divided critics since its release, drawing a 21% score on Rotten Tomatoes alongside descriptions calling it strange and unsparing. Anderson herself acknowledged the film will not sit comfortably with every viewer, calling it “not an easy ride” while insisting its provocations serve the story rather than shock for its own sake.
