Brenda Song Says Pamela Anderson Encouraged Last Showgirl Cast to Film Makeup-Free with Her

Brenda Song takes a look at it The Last Showgirl – and the naked face of Pamela Anderson positivity on the set.

In an interview with Bustle published on January 7, Song opened up about the culture behind Gia Coppola’s indie film, specifically the “less is more” mentality that extended to the makeup chair. In recent years, Song noted, her co-star Anderson — who has become a no-makeup icon in his advocacy of natural beauty — has encouraged others on set to try.

While the actresses were on stage as party girls, they wore high glam – as stages often demand. But other than those moments, Song said, there was no makeup on their faces.

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“The first day we tried on the makeup and Gia said, ‘It doesn’t look right.’ And Pam said, ‘These women don’t have time for that,'” Song recalled. “And Pamela being Pamela, she says, ‘I’m not going to do it. You shouldn’t be doing that either.’”

“Song had a long career as a child actor,” he told Bustle she “lived the life of a 30-year-old working woman since I was 11” — which meant she started wearing makeup very early. A bit of foundation and concealer is standard in her experience, Song said, but not inside The last showgirl.

Brenda Song in The Last Showgirl.

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“There was no room for that in this movie,” she said. “There was something really liberating about not being worried every two seconds saying ‘Oh my God, this is the smallest outfit I’ve ever worn in my career. I just had two kids. I feel so insecure.’

She continued, “And working with these women — who uplifted and supported me every day, made me feel beautiful — made me feel comfortable.”

Anderson recently told PEOPLE about her The last showgirl character, Shelly, and how her cosmetic philosophy mirrored her own.

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The Baywatch the actress wanted to portray her character as she would “going to the grocery store,” she said.

“I just wanted it to be raw and real, and I was ready for it and excited for it,” she told PEOPLE.

Pamela Anderson in the movie The Last Showgirl.

courtesy of Roadside Attractions

She added it while preparing for today’s shoot The The last showgirl set, she avoided mirrors to prevent overthinking her appearance. The only mirrors she dealt with were showgirl mirrors, she said, which were part of the film itself.

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Anderson’s decision to go makeup-free — after decades of carving a glamorous niche for herself — came after her longtime makeup artist, Alexis Vogel, died of breast cancer in 2019. Anderson said Ella that she felt better without Vogel and without makeup.

Since then, she has appeared bare-faced a number of times, most recently at the 2025 Golden Globe Awards.

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Source: HIS Education