Pamela Anderson’s Criterion picks are a cinephile’s dream come true

The star reveals how a love for art cinema has always been a part of her life, even during her ‘Playboy’ days.

From calling Abbas Kiariostami the “original gangster” of beautiful films, and admiring the craft of legends like Jeanne Moreau and Romy Schneider, Pamela Anderson’s recent Criterion picks revealed the actor’s lifelong love affair with film.

The Criterion Collection’s ‘Closet Picks’ is a series documenting filmmakers and actors favourite selections from the New York based home-video distribution/streaming company’s collection of classic films.

Anderson begins the video describing the chance to sift through Criterion’s closet as a “dream come true.”

She later describes memories of reading playwrights like Tennessee Williams and Eugene O’Neill and Sam Shepard, sitting on the ground at Samuel French, a now defunct film and theatre bookshop, during her Playboy days. “I don’t know why, but I just really loved films and I loved theatre and musical theatre and movies,” she said, before adding: “So, I’m so thrilled to be here and so happy to be invited here, because I don’t think people kind of expect me to be such a … cinephile.”

Anderson’s selections drew heavily from iconic films from the ‘60s to ‘80s. Picture: YouTube

The star was formerly a Playboy model and acted in Baywatch. Picture: Supplied

The former ‘Baywatch’ star’s first picks delve into thriller territory, staring off with the iconic French film La Piscine – “obviously, Romy Schneider, this is one of my favourite films” – followed by David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, widely considered the director’s masterpiece and one of the best films of the 1980s, before she bags a copy of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s La Verite, a 1960 French drama film starring Brigitte Bardot.

Anderson then pauses from scouring the DVD-shelves to tell viewers of her love for Jean-Luc Godard, a pioneering director of the late 1950s film movement, the French New Wave.

“I know I wanted to get Godard’s Breathless. Jean Seberg was the reason I cut my hair into a pixie cut. So we’ve got Breathless because she inspired the haircut,” she said, before adding with a laugh: “Thought that would grow out in a few months. It took me a good couple years to get my hair back after I decided to do that.”

The first foreign film to win an Academy Award, Fredrico Fellini’s La Strada is next, before Anderson takes a moment to express her love for Criterion’s film selections – “Thank God for Criterion.”

Louis Malle’s Elevator to the Gallows follows.

Anderson describes the iconic sequence of Jeanne Moreau walking down a street to a Miles Davis track as one of her “favourite scenes, ever.”

A copy of Barbara Loden’s Wanda – one of her “dearest, favourite” films – catches the star’s eye before she cites Loden one of her biggest “inspirations.”

“I just watched the documentary I Am Wanda a couple of days ago. She is a remarkable actress and woman.”

Jean Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg in a scene from Jean Luc Godard's film 'Breathless,' one of Anderson’s favourites. Picture: Supplied

The Koker Trilogy is Anderson’s next steal.

“Abbas Kiarostami was the original gangster when it came to beautiful, poetic films. His films you can watch on repeat, over and over again.”

David Lean’s 1955 Summertime is Anderson’s next pick and dream remake. The film’s star, Katharine Hepburn, serves as one of Anderson’s greatest inspirations.

“This is the style of acting that I love, the passion and the importance of the craft. When I watch her or Elizabeth Taylor, for example, in Suddenly, Last Summer, I am so inspired.

“That’s the kind of actress I would love to be, not a contemporary actress, but an actress from this time. It’s very inspirational to me.”

Originally published as Pamela Anderson’s Criterion picks are a cinephile’s dream come true