Known globally as a leading actress, blonde bombshell, and makeup-free beauty, Pamela Anderson’s name is unforgettable. Now, at 58, she’s looking to embrace her Finnish heritage by changing it.
During an interview with Vogue Scandinavia in December, the actress opened up about her close bond with her grandfather, Herman Hyytiäine, who is a native of Finland. Pamela shared that her grandfather was "the closest person to her in her life".
"Sometimes I don't want to be Pamela Anderson. I want to be Pamela Hyytiäinen. I would like to change my name, but they won’t let me," she admitted. The actress's family went by the surname Hyytiäinen before they moved to Canada.
Pamela was taught Finnish by her grandfather when she was growing up, calling it "a magical language that no one else could understand". Herman sadly passed away when Pamela was just 11 years old.
Pamela's new look
As she’s gotten older, Pamela has left her blonde bombshell image behind and embraced a fresh, new look. The star opened up about her approach to self confidence during a new interview on the How To Fail podcast. Pamela reflected on how she redefined beauty for herself. "It wasn’t about 'look at me, I’m pretty,'" she shared about her choice to go makeup-free. "It was 'I'm brave.'"
She continued: "Everybody was so horrified when I decided I didn't need a glam team for certain events." "When I was in Paris, I thought, 'Who's looking at me?' Is anyone going to fall over backwards if I'm not wearing makeup? And that's where it started, at Paris Fashion Week.
"And it just sent everybody scrambling around me thinking, 'No, this is not what people do.' And I said, 'Well, that even gives me more reason to do it,'" she explained.
Pamela shared how she felt as though makeup "really didn't do any favours." "Not that it was world peace or anything, but it was just me challenging myself, thinking, why am I sitting in a makeup chair for three hours when I'm not trying to be the prettiest girl in the room?" she added.
"If I put makeup on, I like a lot of glam, a big glamorous look like in a photo shoot or something very fun. How I personally like myself is just completely barefaced."
She shared how her beauty philosophy has grown and adapted over time, in step with both her age and her career journey. "Me not wearing makeup and me being at this age, coming into this part of my career, I felt like it was important for me, in my personal life, to be more natural," she said.