EXCLUSIVE: Pamela Anderson 'Thrilled' She's No Longer 'Cartoon Character Bimbo' From 'Baywatch' Days — As She Launches 'Serious' Movie Career

Hit TV show Baywatch made Pamela Anderson a global household name but now she's poised for her greatest achievement so far – an Oscar nomination.

She is also overjoyed that she can finally throw off the "cartoon character" image playing lifeguard CJ Parker landed her with 33 years ago, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

The 57-year-old is hoping she will instead be known for being an Oscar winner after she was tipped to land a first Academy nomination for her role in The Last Showgirl.

She said: "Being part of pop culture is a blessing and it's a little bit of a curse if you want to convince people you can do other things.

"I think I just started really walking my talk. I didn't want to be that cartoon character I'd been walking around like.

"I thought, 'How do people look at me any differently? I mean, this is what I'm presenting to the world'."

Anderson had already received a Golden Globes Best Actress nomination for her role as a Las Vegas showgirl, and on Friday it is predicted an Oscar nod will be announced too.

In the film, she plays the lead role of Shelly, and she was so desperate to prove herself as a serious actress that she knew she had nothing to lose and everything to gain by giving the part her all.

She added in a new interview: "I am pretty fearless with that. I knew I was capable of more and I kind of was beating myself up when I went home, like, 'I really screwed up' or 'I didn't work hard enough' or just events that had happened in my life.

"And then when this came along, I thought, 'This is what that feeling is when an actor or an artist sees a project that they have to do'.

Anderson went on: "When I read the script, I thought, 'Put your head down. You're going to work really hard. This might be the only good movie you're ever going to do and how do you want your legacy to be?'

"I wanted to work on my voice, I wanted to work on everything. So I just did the best I could, and I'm glad it's been well received."

Canadian-American star Anderson's career spans three decades and includes the 1996 film Barb Wire and a stint on Broadway in 2022 playing Roxie Hart in the revival of Chicago.

But she said: "I feel like this is the first time that I've ever really done anything at this level of commitment and focus for myself.

"It was a whole new world, a new chapter.

"But coming from the Broadway stage and going right into this film was really exciting.

"I felt like I already had my feet wet, I wasn't coming from Baywatch doing this."

She became an overnight modeling success in 1989 after a TV camera team picked her out in the crowd at a big US football game.

Anderson was offered a photoshoot, and went on to become an international sex symbol, appearing on the cover of Playboy 13 times.

After minor acting roles, her breakthrough came in 1992 when she was cast as CJ Parker in Baywatch. Other parts followed, but she was often typecast as a blonde bimbo, and a tumultuous and much-publicized marriage to rock wildman Tommy Lee did little to change that image.

Just 96 hours after meeting in 1995, the pair married on a Mexican beach.

The marriage produced sons Brandon and Dylan, but it was a rocky one. They endured the humiliation of a stolen sex tape and in 1998 Lee served six months in prison after assaulting her.

But in 2023 people started to see another side to her, thanks to her Netflix documentary Pamela, A Love Story, and memoir Love, Pamela.

After the death from breast cancer of her friend, make-up artist Alexis Vogel, she decided to appear barefaced on the red carpet.