Pamela Anderson responds to her Oscar snub for The Last Showgirl and insists she ‘never expected’ a nomination

After earning a Golden Globe nomination and a Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination, many were hoping Pamela Anderson would score her first Oscar nomination this year for The Last Showgirl.

The critically-acclaimed indie film – following an aging Las Vegas showgirl who must evolve when her show is shut down – earned scores of rave reviews for her portrayal of Shelly Gardner in director Gia Coppola’s film.

Unfortunately, Anderson’s name wasn’t called when the 97th Academy Awards nominations were revealed on Thursday morning.

While some consider her exclusion a snub, Anderson herself insisted that she wasn’t expecting her name to be called at all.

‘Oh my gosh, it’s not something I ever expected. Doing the work is the win,’ Anderson said in an interview with Elle on Thursday. 

‘That’s what I like to do, and I think we can lose sight of that sometimes in this whole crazy awards season, but it’s nice to be recognized, and it’s all a bonus,’ she added.

After earning a Golden Globe nomination and a Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination, many were hoping Pamela Anderson would score her first Oscar nomination this year for The Last Showgirl

The critically-acclaimed indie film – following an aging Las Vegas showgirl who must evolve when her show is shut down – earned scores of rave reviews for her portrayal of Shelly Gardner in director Gia Coppola’s film

The Last Showgirl marked her first starring role in many years, as Anderson added that she was more than happy with the accolades she’d already received. 

‘I couldn’t imagine [it] anyway. I’m happy for the SAG nomination, that’s [voted on by] your peers. That’s really cool. This has been a long road promoting this film,’ she said.

She added that the success of The Last Showgirl is ‘the best payback’ after the Hulu miniseries Pam & Tommy, which chronicled the leak of her and Tommy Lee’s sex tape.

‘It’s just one of those things. It happened and now I’m here and so this is the best payback … I’m being seen and recognised for my work and not these tawdry moments,’ she said on Andy Cohen’s Sirius XM show Radio Andy.

When asked about the Hulu series, which starred Lily James and Sebastian Stan as Pamela and Tommy, she said: ‘I didn’t have any involvement. No one called me, which was so strange and that was hurtful.’

‘I think ethically it’s illegal. But I mean, you’re kind of fair game. I remember people telling me that a long time ago that you are basically public property and have no right to privacy,’ she said of the incident that made headlines around the globe.

When asked if anyone from Hulu ever approached her with an apology, she replied, ‘No they haven’t.’

The series recreated the moment where the tape was in a safe that was stolen by a disgruntled contractor (played by Seth Rogen) who was furious that Lee wouldn’t pay him. 

The Last Showgirl marked her first starring role in many years, as Anderson added that she was more than happy with the accolades she’d already received

‘I couldn’t imagine [it] anyway. I’m happy for the SAG nomination, that’s [voted on by] your peers. That’s really cool. This has been a long road promoting this film,’ she said.

She told The Hollywood Reporter: ‘I blocked that out of my life. I had to in order to survive, really. It was a survival mechanism’

She told The Hollywood Reporter: ‘I blocked that out of my life. I had to in order to survive, really. It was a survival mechanism.’

‘Now that it’s all coming up again, I feel sick from my whole stomach — from the middle of my chest all the way down to my stomach. [My stomach] feels right now like it’s just been punched.’

Now Anderson is reaping the success of The Last Showgirl, with more projects in the offing.

She’s starring in a new Naked Gun reboot alongside Liam Neeson, which is slated for release August 1, and she also has Rosebush Pruning with Elle Fanning and Riley Keough in post-production.