Star’s thoughts on those impacted by L.A. fires ahead of The Last Showgirl premiere in Vancouver
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“To be promoting a film and to be worried about everybody, it’s like, it’s an interesting feeling to be really excited and really distressed at the same time.”
Anderson said both her kids are fine but are on high alert as the winds can change and cause the fires to shift direction — and grow further.
“I know they’re OK. Yeah, I know that. I’ve been trying to micromanage a lot, and then, finally, I had to give up. Dylan was just like? ‘Stop. Mom, stop … we got this. We, we don’t want to get hurt either, yeah.’ So OK, I understand that. I understand that.”
Anderson spent decades in Malibu and raised both her kids there on the beach at Paradise Cove.
“It’s going to be a rebuild, but the spirit is there. And everybody is coming together,” said Anderson.
Anderson has been out talking about The Last Showgirl, which opened in the U.S. on Jan. 10 and will hit Canadian theatres Jan. 17.
To kick off the Canadian launch, Anderson is coming to Vancouver for an in-person event at Fifth Avenue Cinemas (2110 Burrard St.). The former Baywatch star and Playboy cover queen will introduce the 7 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. screenings of the film and then will sit down with Postmedia’s Dana Gee for a conversation right after the 7 p.m. screening finishes. The event is open to the public and tickets can be purchased online or at the theatre.
The Gia Coppola-directed film follows Shelly (Anderson) a 57-year-old showgirl whose career is ending with the closure of the Le Razzle Dazzle revue show that she has been a part of for 30 years. While the Las Vegas show is set to shutter, Shelly is also trying to reconnect with her daughter (Billie Lourd) who she gave up years ago so she could have a career on the Las Vegas stage.
“I want to support people going into the theatres and having that kind of romantic, kind of community experience again,” said Anderson. “Seeing a film in a theatre is such a romantic and wonderful experience, and it’s a little bit of a departure. And, you know, we didn’t have our premiere. That wasn’t something any of us wanted to do, obviously.”
But Anderson is keen to talk about the film and said a conversation with her friend Miley Cyrus, who sings the Andrew Wyatt-penned song Beautiful That Way on the film’s soundtrack, solidified the importance of moving forward in tough times.
“She’s a great proponent of the show must go on, and music and, you know, art and this is really important,” said Anderson.
What is also important to Anderson was being in Vancouver for the Canadian launch of The Last Showgirl.
Full circle, indeed, as Anderson was discovered after the B.C. Place jumbotron flashed her on the screen at a B.C. Lions game in 1989.
“This is my favourite chapter,” said Anderson, who starred on Broadway as Roxie Hart in Chicago a couple years back. “I’ve never been happier and more inspired … I’ve been counting down the days (to when) people could see it in theatres.”