'The Last Showgirl' stars Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis on the film's message of resilience

Pamela Anderson says her latest role in the Gia Coppola-directed film, "The Last Showgirl" is close to her heart and one she's "really proud of."

During an interview with "Good Morning America," the actress said the script by Kate Gersten had many "parallels" with her own life, so she felt confident she could take on the role from the beginning.

"There's lots that I identified with," Anderson told "GMA" about her connection to her character Shelly, a seasoned showgirl forced to find her next act after the Las Vegas revue she's headlined for decades announces its final show.

"I'd never received a script like this," she explained. "It had so many beautiful characters, so fully written and a great story and just the glamor. I couldn't wait to get started."

Anderson's co-star Jamie Lee Curtis, who plays a former showgirl turned bevertainer, echoed the praise for the storyline, telling "GMA" the film is about "resilience, particularly, the resilience of women."

What made Anderson the perfect actor for this role

Coppola said that it was partly Anderson’s similarities to Shelly that made her the perfect actor for the role.

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"These were both women that no matter what hurdles they faced in life, that they were always optimistic and always found joy," said Coppola, who also admired Anderson in the documentary, "Pamela, A Love Story."

"And then I saw that there was enough dissimilarities that the role would be intriguing for her as an actress," Coppola continued. "She could take all of the things that she had to draw from in her life -- all of the things that I think really make her a true artist. She’s a beautiful writer, she’s a lover of old, classical cinema, she’s extremely well read with plays and philosophy -- so all that intelligence was some place that she could put into this character and I could collaborate with."

Reflecting on her mindset ahead of officially landing the role, Anderson shared, "I couldn’t believe I was going to get this opportunity. So I just thought, if I never do anything else, I'm going to make sure I apply myself and throw everything at this that I know and have learned."

"It was just for me," she said. "I got to do something that I'm really proud of."

In one particularly moving scene in "The Last Showgirl," Anderson's Shelly leaves a passionate voicemail for her daughter, Hannah (Billie Lourd), who she shares a fractured relationship with, encouraging her to embrace and prioritize her passions. "I've always only wanted the best for you," she says on the voice message. "I've always been with you and I just wanted you to be safe. Safe and happy and fulfilled. Follow your dreams. Just be you."

Anderson said she ad-libbed a few of the lines shared in the scene. "I wrote that -- well, in my mind," Anderson said. "Because I do feel like we have to forgive our parents. But you know, there's no perfect way to be a parent."

"I'm always encouraging my boys to make sure that they don't forget about their dreams," she added, referring to her sons, Brandon Thomas Lee, 28, and Dylan Jagger Lee, 26.

"I'm very much like Shelly in that way where I'm not so driven by the business side of things. I'm more driven by the artistic side of life and living life romantically and applying yourself that way."

Kiernan Shipka, who plays Jodie in the film, a young dancer who is passionate about performing, said Anderson’s courage in her performance "was such a gift."

"It was really just about the fact that she was so fearless every single day, and we had an opportunity every single day to see her in action, be very, very, very fearless," Shipka said. "It just really raised the bar for everyone."

She continued, "It made everyone want to show up in a way that was raw and stripped down and risk taking and vulnerable. It was amazing to connect with her, and to see that performance up close."

4 generations contrasting views on the art of being a showgirl

At its core, the film showcases four generations of women in Las Vegas' entertainment scene and their different perspectives when it comes to the industry.

Along with Anderson, Shipka, and Curtis’ characters, there's also Brenda Song as Mary Anne, a showgirl who performs with Shelly in the Razzle Dazzle revue.

While Anderson and Shipka’s characters seem to cherish and have high regard for the art of being a showgirl, Curtis and Song’s characters represent female performers in the industry who have lost their passion for performing and are doing it to survive in Las Vegas.

Song said what drew her to Gersten's story was that it was about "the working woman" and the "four women representing the four generations of women in this very specific industry."

"Jodie being so naive and excited and so passionate about dancing and I think that's who Mary Anne used to be," Song said. "I think she kind of got stuck in this monotonous routine of, you know, just trying to survive every single day and realizing that her passion, she lost her passion for dancing, and it just has become a job."

Song said Anderson’s character’s "wistful outlook and perspective on being a showgirl annoys her [Mary Anne] because she's like, 'Get out of your head. This is just a job.’ I think that triggers her because she lost that whimsy somewhere along the way."

"What I love about this story is that you see it from all of these different women's perspectives," Curtis said. "Very young, medium young, older and way older, and you see the progression of what's really going to happen to these people."

A mother-daughter relationship at its core

Like Anderson, Coppola also found a deep connection with Gersten's script, particularly the mother-daughter relationship that is told between Shelly and Hannah.

"I always really wanted to tell a mother-daughter story because I relate to it," she said. "I was raised by a single mom and I relate to the relationships that you create in the workforce, that family, that bond that's always in those insolent environments."

On the set of "The Last Showgirl," Coppola said a strong bond was present among the cast and crew, which was predominantly comprised of women.

"It was really a labor of love," she said. "We had to move fast. So everyone really had to be in it for the right reasons and wear multiple hats. And I really felt that camaraderie on this. It was a lot of women, a movie about women, and behind the scenes, it was by women. And that wasn't sort of some preconceived notion."

"Everyone loved the story because we can all come at it and relate to it," she added. "So I think that was just one of the greatest rewards – is just that there was a lot of love."

Anderson is already receiving praise for the film, which was shot in 18 days, from both critics and audiences alike. She earned a Golden Globe nomination for best actress in a motion picture drama in December.

Shipka lauded her co-star’s "gorgeous" performance and said it’s a "real treat" to see Anderson being praised for it.

"It takes so much to give that kind of performance," she said. "I was really inspired by it … it's also so exciting to see her, like Brenda says, get her flowers. The fact that everyone is awake to Pamela Anderson, and the greatness that she is just so exciting."

"It was a really tough part," she added. "And she had mountains to climb every single day with that material and with that character, and it was not easy, and she did it 150% and was so stunning and so prepared and so giving."

"The Last Showgirl" arrives in theaters on Jan. 10.