Pamela Anderson has a fine deadpan, and The Naked Gun knows what to do with it. She holds a solemn expression until it becomes absurd, and we would happily see her given more comedy.
Fi1m perspective
In The Naked Gun (2025), Pamela Anderson’s Beth Davenport appears in a veil, carrying the grief of a woman from an old crime film. Anderson holds the solemn face while everything around her becomes ridiculous. We laughed because she kept that expression long after a less patient performer might have signalled the joke. She understands how much funnier Beth becomes when she takes herself seriously.
That patience is worth noticing in an actor whose early casting so often stopped at glamour. C.J. Parker in Baywatch (1992–97) defined Anderson’s screen image; Barb Wire (1996), her first major starring film, did little to loosen the typecasting. Her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in Chicago (2022) began a turn that continued with the dramatic lead in The Last Showgirl (2024). We need not declare every earlier role misunderstood to welcome the change.
Akiva Schaffer gets something precise from her in The Naked Gun: she and Liam Neeson obey the same rule that nobody may admit this is a comedy. Cinematographer Brandon Trost gives the film the shadows of a serious thriller, so her solemnity fits the picture. Betsy Heimann dresses her in gowns from another decade, so Beth can look faintly out of place without Anderson having to overplay her. The performance needs that support. Give her a picture that keeps announcing its own silliness and the straight face would have much less to work against.
The limit is that even a well-judged performance cannot keep a whole spoof going. The gags thin out late, and our enthusiasm for Anderson should not be mistaken for an unqualified recommendation of the film. We would like her next comedy to give her the same freedom to wait, without surrounding her with quite so many disposable gags. Start with The Naked Gun, and leave the scene with the song as a small surprise.
Biography
Pamela Anderson is a Canadian-American actress and model. Born on 1 July 1967 in Ladysmith, British Columbia, she was discovered at a football game in Vancouver and began modelling for Playboy, appearing as Playmate of the Month in February 1990 and on a record number of covers.
She began acting with a role on the sitcom Home Improvement (1991–1993) before gaining international recognition as C.J. Parker on Baywatch (1992–1997). Subsequent television work includes V.I.P. (1998–2002) and Stacked (2005–2006). Film credits include Barb Wire (1996), Scary Movie 3 (2003), Borat (2006) and The Last Showgirl (2024). She made her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in Chicago in 2022 and appeared as Beth Davenport in The Naked Gun (2025).
