When I arrive at my interview with Pamela Anderson, at one of Copenhagen’s most exclusive hotels, she’s perched at a table assembling one of Pandora’s signature charm bracelets – a belated birthday gift for her mother. The night before, the Pandora jewellery ambassador and award-winning actress hosted a glamorous 130-person dinner to celebrate Copenhagen Fashion Week. She was dressed in Khaite and dripping in Pandora lab-grown diamonds.

Now, she is fresh-faced in jeans and a crisp white shirt, accessorised with a pair of diamond studs and a simple sparkling diamond pendant. Softly spoken, Anderson is perfectly self-contained. As she starts to talk about her recent time in Australia filming, she continues methodically picking through Pandora charms looking for a few paw motifs and a coffee press (mum is a “dog nanny” so she needs “a couple of paws on there.”)

If Anderson is the picture of calm, the public is in a frenzy for her. Alongside co-star Liam Neeson, she has just completed what feels like one of the most viral press tours in years for The Naked Gun. And, the night before she flew into Copenhagen, she wrapped her run of Tennessee Williams’ play Camino Real, directed by Dustin Wills.

Image: Courtesy of Pandora Pamela Anderson wears a Khaite gown with Pandora lab-grown diamonds

Arguably, since the release of her Netflix documentary, Pamela Anderson: A Love Story, in 2023 and seizing control of her public image, she’s become a hero for many women. In person, she’s a study in contrasts. Grace Kelly-esque composure and icy blonde beauty with flashes of slightly wicked humour, natural shyness with moments of flamboyance. And her sense of style is equally compelling.

At our Fashion Week dinner, she appeared wearing a statuesque Khaite gown—high Hepburn-esque neckline, hair pushed back with a sweet headband. When she turned, the gown dipped low, exposing the tattoos sketched across her lower back—a sexy, effortless, devastatingly cool flourish that distilled Anderson’s appeal. Whether she’s hosting dinner in a 127-year-old museum or chatting with journalists in a five-star hotel, she brings every facet of herself to the table (charms and all).

Danish jewellery brand Pandora has been by her side throughout this renaissance, a fixture on her red carpet appearances as she’s emerged as a style and beauty icon and an artist receiving the critical acclaim she deserves. The relationship between Anderson and the brand feels less like a typical celebrity endorsement arrangement and is more like an instance of chosen family.

Once she’s triumphantly sourced her coffee press charm, Anderson settles in to talk to ELLE Australia about finding her style, overcoming “painful” shyness and finding love and acceptance by being exactly who she is.

Image: Courtesy of Pandora

You’ve become a style icon over the last few years, and you’ve said you prefer to dress yourself. How has this new chapter in your life allowed you to express yourself in new ways?

Pamela Anderson: I usually style myself, but on the Naked Gun press tour, I worked with Bailey Moon – he’s excellent. I wanted my look to be fun with a wink to Old Hollywood and a bit of a kitchy feel. The movie is so fun and silly, I just thought, “I don’t want to take myself too seriously.”

My everyday style is more minimal, which is why I’m having so much fun with jewellery. When you’re not wearing makeup and you’re dressing simply, it’s fun to have a little sparkle, and I have a very playful side. Now that I am doing a lot of red carpet and film festivals, celebrities get offered campaigns with big jewellery brands. But I feel for me, Pandora has a family connection, and we’ve been working together for a couple of years. It’s accessible, and it suits me more than wearing something elaborate.

How does Pandora’s approach to the materials they use, including lab-grown diamonds and recycled materials, align with your values?

Sometimes I think it’s good I waited this long to partner with anyone. Things would come along that seemed enticing, but so many brands cut corners – using too much plastic and generating excessive waste. It’s across all industries, and it’s one of the reasons I started my beauty brand [Pamela Anderson is the founder of Sonsie Skin, which ELLE can confirm is very, very good].

Now it’s in fashion to have compassion; we have access to so much information, and when you know the repercussions of every choice, you might as well make a good one. Young people in particular want to know what goes into making what they wear on their face, their clothes, and their jewellery. I think it’s really a pivotal time in history, and people are becoming more conscious; they want to find what makes them feel comfortable wearing.

Is there something that surprised you about working with Pandora?

They’ve been with me everywhere, and they’ve invested in me as an artist, too. It goes beyond, can you wear this on the red carpet? They come to see the screenings of films that I’ve done, and they’re genuinely invested in my career, my wellbeing and my kids [Anderson’s sons Brandon Thomas Lee and Dylan Jagger Lee appeared in a 2024 campaign alongside their mum]. For the dinner last night, it was their idea to have a Michelin-starred chef recreate recipes from my cookbook and for me to help design the night. It’s not just about me being an ambassador for their jewellery; they’re an ambassador for me.

You hosted Pandora’s dinner last night. What were the highlights of the evening for you?

I called it my palate cleanse. I’d just finished the Naked Gun tour and Camino Real. I kept thinking, “Once I get to Copenhagen, I can finally breathe and say I did it.” I love the furniture stores, the coffee, the bakeries – especially the sourdough, you can eat as much of it as you want here. I love sourdough, so I toured Hart Bageri to see their starters! I wanted to come here, relax and dress simply.

The Naked Gun is getting outstanding reviews [Esquire called it “the film the world needs right now” and The Guardian called it “outrageously amusing”]. How are you feeling about it all?

I’m so happy! A lot of friends back in Canada have mentioned that people have been clapping at the end, but I was surprised by the reviews – I honestly didn’t think they would review a slapstick comedy, so that’s nice. But more so, it’s nice to be in a theatre with a bunch of people smiling and laughing and that feeling of community and being part of something fun and silly that gives people some belly laughs.

There’s a parallel with Pandora: it’s glamorous but it’s approachable and accessible to people and has a rich history [the film is a remake of the classic 1980s Leslie Nielsen-led franchise]. I mean, I remember decades ago, my boys were getting Pandora charm bracelets for their girlfriends.

Do you have a daily mantra?

I’m not religious, but I love spirituality and rituals. I think as an actress, especially in the theatre, everything is about ritual. You drink the same coffee, you eat the same breakfast over and over again [to get into character]. And that really grounds and connects me, especially when you travel all over, it’s nice to have those grounded moments. I have a small altar with a candle where I pray. It might sound odd, but I love that Saint Francis prayer: “make me an instrument of peace.” Make me an instrument of joy. I say that every day.

Even when I was doing Naked Gun and there was frivolity, I wanted to feel grounded in the love story, the relationship, the sincerity of the characters. And not just try to be funny, it’s something about being grounded that always gives it a little more.

Have you always been comfortable being the centre of attention, or is it something you’ve grown into?

I guess I must have grown into it because when I was a kid, I was paralyzingly, painfully shy. And I hated that feeling. But then there was another part of me that was reading Shakespeare young, scat singing in a jazz band and reciting poetry to my dad; there was a very creative side of me, but I could never do a school play.

I’ve struggled with that so much, but now I just think as long as it’s positive and as long as it’s about having fun. I try not to look at reviews and things like that because you’ll always find that one person who said something bad, and you won’t be able to get it out of your head. It’s better not to look at all.

So I’m just being me. And I’m so lucky because I get to be.