Pamela Anderson opened up about feeling undervalued by both the original “Baywatch” TV series and the 2017 “Baywatch” movie starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Zac Efron.
Speaking with Variety for a new profile, Anderson said that the producers of the movie came at her with an unappealing offer to make a cameo in the film.
“It was becoming really, really awful,” she said, telling the outlet producers were calling her nonstop. “They said they wanted me to do it as a favor. 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?'” she added.
Anderson did appear at the end of the film, reprising her role as CJ Parker while Johnson introduced her as the lifeguard crew’s new captain. She didn’t speak at all, as she poked fun at the original show by appearing in slow-motion. “I ended up OK,” she said, “No complaints.”
The actress said she was undervalued on the TV series as well, saying she was paid $1,500 an episode for the first season. Though her fee went up over time, she still had no stake in her likeness being sold off for Barbies and other merch and makes nothing from the remastered series being added to Amazon’s Prime Video.
“The producers of ‘Baywatch’ made a fortune,” she told Variety. “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.”
Her son Brandon was actually instrumental on putting together her deals with Netflix and HarperCollins for her new documentary and memoir. He believes his mother “was definitely being taken advantage of” back in the day and now.
“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 added. “With the Amazon library deal, we didn’t get a penny.”
Anderson’s memoir, “Love, Pamela” and her Netflix documentary, “Pamela: A Love Story,” will be released simultaneously on January 31.
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