Pamela Anderson's Special Barbie Doll Foreshadowed Her Baywatch Future

Long before Pamela Anderson was on "Baywatch," she received a gift that hinted at where her career would take her. Anderson spoke with Elle about modeling for Aritzia and when the conversation shifted to Barbiecore, she told a story about Ruth Handler, the creator of the Barbie doll. "Handler actually gave me one of the first Barbies," Anderson said. "She was a neighbor. It was the first platinum Barbie, in a red bathing suit."

Anderson's Barbie doll wearing a red swimsuit foreshadows her role on "Baywatch," because all the lifeguards — including Anderson's character C.J. Parker — wore red swimsuits. Anderson still holds on to this iconic reminder of her "Baywatch" past, and she can still fit in her red swimsuit from the show.

However, Anderson does not feel much like a Barbie girl. She told Elle that she related more to the Jane Fonda character Barbarella from the movie of the same name, or to her own role as the titular character in 1996's "Barb Wire."

Pamela Anderson's Barbie connections expand to the world of music. According to a 2022 interview about the iconic hit, the song "Barbie Girl" was partially inspired by the "Baywatch" actor. In addition to cheeky, raunchy lyrics, the overarching message of the song was about self-confidence and not feeling pressured to get plastic surgery to fit society's mold of attractiveness.

"It's tongue in cheek," Lene Nystrøm, a member of Aqua and one of the lead vocalists on "Barbie Girl," told Rolling Stone. "It's pop music. If you want to see the layers to it, there's all the layers you want. But we kind of took the piss out of the Pamela Anderson 'Baywatch' perfect picture with silicon boobs. We wanted to take the piss out of that kind of perfect girl. That was the main thing we discussed. We didn't say it very often, but that was the main thing behind it."

In her interview with Vanity Fair, Pamela Anderson said that acting as the "Barbie doll cartoon character" stereotype is in the past for her. After a career of being scrutinized by her looks (even by her own mother) and seen as a pretty face with not much else to offer, Anderson has changed how she dresses, opting for a more relaxed, comfortable vibe. 

"If people love me like this, then it could be good," Anderson told the outlet, referring to her new look. "I'm almost 56 years old. This is it. It's not that bad."

Anderson is still a beach babe without makeup, and one of the reasons she drastically changed her personal style is because of the loss of her makeup artist, Alexis Vogel. Vogel had a rather famous list of clients — including Anderson, Kelly Clarkson, and Sharon Stone — before she passed away in 2019. "She was the best," Anderson said in her interview with Elle. "And since then, I just felt, without [Vogel], it's just better for me not to wear makeup."