Pamela Anderson covers the digital issue of Elle. The interview was conducted right after the Oscar nominations came out, and Pamela didn’t make the list for Best Actress. There were so many “snubs” this year, but people were really broken-hearted about Pamela’s snub in her “comeback role” in The Last Showgirl. Pam is fine though – she feels honored to have the buzz, and plus, she picked up nominations at the Golden Globes and SAG Awards. Interestingly, Elle asked Martha Stewart to interview Pam and they got along famously – it’s a nice read, and both women admire each other a great deal. Some highlights from Elle:

How ‘The Last Showgirl’ came to her: A year later, Anderson was at home pickling brine in Vancouver Island, seriously contemplating starting a business called Pamela’s Pickles, when her son Brandon, an actor and producer, handed her the script for The Last Showgirl, following Coppola’s failed attempts to get in touch with her. After reading it, she remembers thinking, This might be my only chance to do a film, so I’m going to give it all I got.

On Jamie Lee Curtis: “She’s so much fun. Such a champion for women, too. She took me by the shoulders and said, “I did this movie for you.” I thought, That’s a woman’s woman. She’s been there, she’s reinvented herself time and again, and I think she saw that in me—that I wanted to do the same thing—and [she] really supported me, which was incredible. I’m just so happy I got to do this.”

No Oscar nom: “No, no nomination for the Oscar, but I couldn’t even imagine that. I did get a SAG nomination, which is really exciting and…all of this is just unexpected and exciting. I always say the win is in the work. I got to do something I really love, and I needed to do that for my soul.”

Making TLS: “We shot it in 18 days. We shot it at the Rio, backstage in these really tiny spaces. We had to get out of there at a certain time because the show would start, so we had to put everything back. I could hear the voice in my head. I could see how to play her, all the layers and nuances. I felt like it was already in my mind, and so I knew I had to do it. And that’s the first time I’ve ever experienced anything like that, because nobody was giving me these great characters to play or a script like this. I just thought, Wow.”

Navigating a business built on exploiting young women: “It’s hard to navigate a business that is based on physical beauty and also naïveté. You’re in this business and you want to please people and you have a gut feeling that maybe it’s not the right thing to do, and you can get yourself in these dangerous situations. I was such a shy young girl, if you can believe it—I wanted to do anything to stop being shy. When the Playboy cover [opportunity] came up, my mom said, “Do it.” I didn’t know what it was going to lead to, but then it led to this wild and crazy life.

How long it took to put together her cookbook: “Three years. I didn’t realize what it takes to make a cookbook. I made this recipe card box for my kids when they got their first home together, and they are the ones who said, “Mom, this is a cookbook.” They’re businessmen. That was their idea. And I worked with a great photographer who shot Noma’s cookbook.

On her bread: “My bread is really good. I have this great sourdough starter named Astrid Viking Warrior Princess.

[From Elle]

I always come back to how much Pamela’s sons stand up for her and help her out and encourage her to do various projects or appearances. They are their mom’s biggest champions and it’s really lovely to see. Given their childhood, it would have been very easy for those two guys to become little sh-ts, but instead, they became really nice guys who love their mama. As for her answer about not getting an Oscar nomination… that’s the way to play it, and I believe she’s genuine as well. She went on a great ride with TLS and she played the game, and got some recognition and validation from the journey.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, cover courtesy of Elle.