Pamela Anderson is calling out the producers of 2017’s “Baywatch”.
The actress, who played the iconic cultural icon C.J. Parker in the original 1989 TV series, says her cameo in the film was made under less-than-ideal circumstances. According to her, they hounded her relentlessly with phone calls.
“It was becoming really, really awful. They said they wanted me to do it as a favor,” Anderson told Variety. “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?’ ”
Sticking firm to her boundaries, she eventually agreed to do an unvoiced cameo. “I ended up okay. No complaints,” she said of the experience.
With regards to the rest of the franchise, however, Anderson had other misgivings – especially when the show was licensed to Prime Video.
“The producers of Baywatch made a fortune. I just didn’t have the representation back then. Or the know-how. 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,” she explained.
The 2017 “Baywatch” film starred Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Alexandra Daddario and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Anderson’s brief cameo is at the end of the film when she’s introduced as the new captain in a slow-motion scene.
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While Anderson has made her peace with the franchise, her older son, Brandon Thomas Lee, has been less charitable.
“She was definitely being 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,” he claimed.
Along with his younger brother Dylan Jagger Lee, they’ve been leading the charge in encouraging their mother to reclaim her narrative.