Pamela Anderson: "I've Never Felt Pretty Enough to Be a Model"

Still, she says, "I think I've provoked feelings with how I look"

By Zach Johnson Jan 27, 2015 12:46 PMTags
Pamela Anderson, 2013Mike Marsland/WireImage

Indeed, beauty really is in the eye of the beholder!

Pamela Anderson is widely seen as one of the sexiest women of all time, but ironically, the Baywatch bombshell didn't always agree with that assessment. As the 47-year-old actress explains to Parade, it took decades to believe she was beautiful. "I've just signed with Next Modeling agency for commercials and appearances. That is funny. I've never felt pretty enough to be a model," the activist admits. "I think I've provoked feelings with how I look. But not as a beauty but as a mischievous little rascal!"

Wait, what?! Is she serious?!

"I've always been a tomboy. That was never the first thing on my list," says Anderson, who has more Playboy covers than any other woman. "My mom always told me beauty comes from within. And I know that's maybe a cliché, but I do believe that. And I think that's what lasts forever."

"I don't really feel like I want to chase youth. I want to get old. I want to experience all the seasons of my life. I just don't want to be afraid of it," Anderson continues. "And I think in this industry you're surrounded by a lot of fear of getting older and fear of your looks leaving you. And I thought, 'Well, I'm lucky then, because I never really felt that great looking.' I felt like I had fun. I felt like I could be sexy. I could be provocative and I could use my image to get attention for things that I cared about."

In the '90s, Anderson felt a bit misunderstood--not that she's one to complain. "I think I was defined a bit unfairly. But that was then and this is now," she says. "I believe that I was defined before I could define myself. I came here young and I think that people are getting to know me a little bit more now as time has progressed. But again, I'm not really good at this whole business thing. I just think that I'm going to do the best I can."

According to Anderson, social media has made it easier for celebrities to have some say in how the public perceives them. At the same time, it can also give them a false identity.

"A lot of these images that people see of people in the press are manipulated images. They're people with publicists. No one really knows anybody," the Stacked star explains to Parade. "There is still a lot of mystery and I think that's what social media are maybe giving people a little more information. But all these people are human, too. I still feel like it's kind of a dangerous territory to judge anybody at any time. You never know where they come from or what they've been through or what they're capable of."

Anderson has been selective about her projects in recent years, but now, she's ready to work again. "I have five film projects this year--all incredible artistic ventures. I'm on set of [the film] People Garden now, directed by Nadia Lintz, starring Dree Hemmingway. She is a force," she says. "I have a film directed by Luke Gilford, another short by Hala Matar, another with Werner Herzog and a film with David LaChapelle. I have a full year."