Pamela Anderson is the indisputable heart of Gia Coppola’s film The Last Showgirl. As Shelly, a longtime showgirl facing down obsolescence, Anderson fully inhabits her character. She is by turns desolated, angry and even funny; she positively rages against the dying of the spotlight. But The Last Showgirl is more than a vehicle for Anderson’s stellar performance. Shot in Vegas over 19 days in February 2024, this indie drama is also a compassionate study of families, both found and biological; a lowkey Vegas history lesson; and a showcase for nuanced performances by Dave Bautista, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kiernan Shipka.
Coppola spoke with the Weekly as The Last Showgirl debuts in theaters.
Why a Vegas movie? What drew you to this story?
I’ve always loved Las Vegas. During college, when I would drive my car cross-country to get back and forth from school, I would stop in Vegas … and I was a photo major, so I was always really intrigued to take photos and wonder what the day-to-day life is like there.
The Last Showgirl’s Pamela Anderson and producer Robert Schwartzman at the Beverly Theater.
[Kate Gersten’s script] was originally a play. When I read it, I was struck with how well she depicted what it must be like for people that work in the magical illusion of Vegas … Also, it’s a mother-daughter story. I was raised by a single mom, and I’ve become a mother myself. I really relate to the chosen family that you create in your work environment—that kind of camaraderie, and the dialog of that friendship.
A beloved Vegas icon, the Blue Angel, makes several appearances in the film. How did you find her?
The local Vegas community was so vital in helping us and supporting us. They told me that the Blue Angel landmark is something that really stands out to the local community. ... When I heard that, I just felt it was so parallel to the end concept that I’d envisioned internally. It was really cool to pay tribute to a local landmark, but then, it also was really representative to our movie.
Speaking of locals, I was happily surprised to see Spiegelworld performer Gypsy Wood.
My producer, Robert Schwartzman, has some friends in Las Vegas. They connected us with Gypsy and when we saw her house … it wasn’t how I initially envisioned Shelly’s house, but when I saw it, I was like, oh my god, this is better than what I even anticipated. We really didn’t have to do much to decorate it. … Gypsy had said certain funny little terms, like, “Oh, the hidey-holes [in the walls] where the gangsters stored their money.” I was like, oh, that’s an amazing line. We have to use that. It was so nice to have her in the film, given all that she did in supporting us.
How did you nurture Pamela Anderson’s outstanding performance?
Being a small movie has a lot of benefits. You’re able to kind of create that family bond, because everyone has to get their hands dirty and put egos aside, and we’re able to be nimble when your actors are sort of in their emotional space. With some of the more heavy scenes [Anderson] would tell us, “I’m in the zone, I’m ready to go.” And we could just go, because we didn’t need all these crazy lights and thousands of people to just put up a camera and roll.
The era of the showgirl revue may be gone, but Pamela made me believe.
Kate really did her research of that community and that world during the final years of the Jubilee [show at Bally’s). I had no idea … You see that [showgirl] imagery all over Las Vegas, but I didn’t realize the actual specific type of show does not exist anymore.
I’d love it if The Last Showgirl managed to bring them back.
I would love that, too!
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