His Excellency Justin Trudeau Prime Minister of Canada

The Pamela Anderson Foundation

February 29, 2016

His Excellency Justin Trudeau Prime Minister of Canada
 

Your Excellency:

Congratulations on your new role as prime minister. I admire your progressive views on LGBT rights and your compassionate stance on the Syrian refugee crisis. I also commend you for naming a gender-balanced Cabinet, as you said, "Because it's 2015." There's another issue that has sullied Canada at home and abroad for years, which I hope you'll address: wasteful government bailouts of the nearly extinct East Coast commercial seal trade. As a concerned Canadian and as an honorary director of PETA, which has more than 280,000 members and supporters in Canada, I'd like to meet with you in person to discuss this issue.

All major markets have rejected seal products: The U.S., the European Union, and Russia have all banned seal-fur imports because of animal-welfare concerns. Former Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea admitted that China has said no to seal meat despite years of marketing efforts to create a demand there. World leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, have expressed opposition to the industry, and even local sentiment is changing, as this editorial shows. Still, the government pours millions of tax dollars into propping up this dying industry, which has long cost Canada more money to support than it brings in.

I urge you to usher in a new era of fiscal responsibility and kindness by ending federal subsidies of the commercial seal slaughter, as Norway recently did. This tiny off-season trade makes up less than 1 percent of Newfoundland's economy. Might you be available to discuss cutting or phasing out subsidies to this controversial, faded off-season trade? The money could be much more wisely spent promoting other Canadian businesses with a brighter future that would make the world see us as the sophisticated, enlightened modern country that we want to be. I hope to hear that you will be available in the coming weeks to discuss this important issue in a more official setting.

Thanks for your time and consideration.

Sincerely yours,
Pamela Anderson

ICELANDIC FIN WHALING SHUT DOWN FOR 2016

Photo: Kristján Loftsson, Iceland's most notorious Cetacean serial killer.

Photo: Kristján Loftsson, Iceland's most notorious Cetacean serial killer.

Icelandic mass murdering killing spree has been shut down for 2016.

Kristján Loftsson the world's most notorious cetacean serial killer will not kill any endangered Fin whales this summer. Not because he does not want to. He is a man driven by a ruthless greed to slaughter as many whales as he can. He loves the money but my observations of this sadistic individual over the last three decades is that he also enjoys the killing.

No other individual since Ari Onassis has been so personally involved in the murder of whales.

In 1986 Sea Shepherd destroyed half his ruthless fleet of illegal killer boats. The two ships that Sea Shepherd activists sent to the bottom of the harbor have never been repaired, their rusting hulks still moored by the pier where they were raised three decades ago. It took Loftsson 18 years to recover from the damage Sea Shepherd inflicted on his operation.

However he was able to build a new market in Japan providing them with whale meat from the Fin whale, an endangered species that even the Japanese have been unable to kill because of a decade of interventions by Sea Shepherd in the Southern Ocean.

Last summer the Sea Shepherd ship SAM SIMON delayed the whale meat transport vessel WINTER BAY from departing Trömso and the ship was only able to leave under escort by the Norwegian Coast Guard.

The blocking of the WINTER BAY by the SAM SIMON was followed by another obstacle for this Icelandic whale killer with the visit by Sea Shepherd Chair Pamela Anderson to Russia to meet with President Putin and her request that Russia ban trans-shipments of whale meat through Russian waters across the Arctic Ocean to Japan.

Of course Loftsson, who hates Sea Shepherd with a passion will not acknowledge the Sea Shepherd obstacles, so he is citing another obstacle as his reason for shutting down whaling operations and that is the bureaucratic red tape of the Japanese market that requires the whale meat to be accompanied by a full chemical analysis certificate.

According to Loftsson, the Japanese are clinging to 40-year old analysis methods used nowhere else in the world. Icelandic whale-meat products are accompanied by a full chemical analysis certificate that Loftsson says the Japanese find unacceptable.

What is strange is that Loftsson has not complained about the chemical analysis certificate before and suddenly it becomes the reason for shutting down operations for the summer of 2016.

According to Loftsson, the Japanese don't trust the Icelandic chemical analysis. They must have trusted it before but for reasons unknown Loftsson says they no longer trust it now.

“If Japan does not adopt modern testing methods such as used in Iceland, Hvalur will no longer be able to hunt whales for the Japanese market,” he says.

It's kind of amusing that an Icelander would claim that the Japanese are not as modern in chemical analysis of whale meat as the Japanese but that's Loftsson's story and apparently he's sticking to it.

If Loftsson sees this as the only obstacle the simple solution would be to have the whale meat undergo Japanese chemical analysis in Iceland or Japan. As the seller he should not have any issue with the buyer requesting their own certification.

When we purchase a ship we undertake our own survey. The buyers usually offers a survey but it would be unwise to proceed with a purchase using only the survey of the seller.

Loftsson employs 155 workers in his whaling operation and happily they will soon be un-employed, at least in the whaling industry.

Sea Shepherd cannot confirm that Pamela Anderson's intervention was pivotal in this decision nor can we confirm that the costs of the delays caused by Sea Shepherd last summer were a factor but we tend to think that the Sea Shepherd obstacles make more sense than some bureaucratic discrepancies over certification.

So Loftsson's excuse is very suspect. There are factors here that he is has chosen to not reveal.

If Japan wants the whale meat they would of course negotiate a way to get around the red tape. And if Iceland wants to sell the whale meat they would also be willing to negotiate a solution. Those are obstacles they can control.

They cannot control Sea Shepherd obstacles.

Last summer, Hvalur hunted 155 finback whales, which are classified as an endangered species by the IUCN. 150 people were employed by the company to hunt whales and to process the meat. Sea Shepherd has have no sympathy for their loss of employment.

Whatever the reason for the decision to not slaughter whales this summer, it is happily received with great joy by people everywhere who love and value the lives of whales.

Captain Paul Watson - Founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Established (1977)

www.seashepherdglobal.org

   

 

 

 

The Honorable John Bel Edwards Governor of Louisiana

The Pamela Anderson Foundation
February 17, 2016
The Honorable John Bel Edwards
Governor of Louisiana

Dear Governor Edwards,
Congratulations on your new post. I have been following your admirable efforts to resolve the state's budget crisis and wanted to make a suggestion. As Louisiana is the "prison capital of the world," you could save over half a million dollars a year and improve your inmates' health by serving nutritious vegan meals in state correctional facilities.

If you left meat off menus in the 12 state-run prisons, Louisiana taxpayers would save as much as $620,000 a year. Beans, rice, lentils, pasta, potatoes and other vegetables, and oranges and other fruits have all the nutrients a person needs but at a fraction of the price of meats and cheeses. There would also be enormous savings on freezer costs and spoilage, since most vegan foods and ingredients can be shipped and stored without refrigeration.

These huge tax savings are based on the $273,000 in reduced costs reported by the Maricopa County Jail in Arizona, when it switched to all-vegetarian food for its 8,000 inmates. Last year, I went there with representatives of PETA to serve lunch to the prisoners and can report that they were impressed by the freshness and quality of the food. If Louisiana follows Arizona's lead in switching to meat-free meals in jail, I'd be happy to inaugurate the program by helping cook and serve lunch to the inmates.

Numerous top studies have shown that a plant-based diet significantly reduces the risk of obesity and cancer and can even reverse heart disease and diabetes. Vegan meals would decrease prisoner health-care costs and have a significant beneficial impact on Louisiana, given that the state has the third-highest obesity rate in the nation.

It's heartening to know that as governor, you plan to reform Louisiana's correctional system. I hope you use this suggestion as one way of achieving that end, while also addressing the state's budget crisis. PETA and I would be happy to work with your team, as we did in Arizona, to create a low-cost meal plan for your correctional facilities. I hope to have the opportunity to help you launch it.

Respectfully yours,
Pamela Anderson
Honorary PETA Director

THIS IS PAMELA ANDERSON IN HER MOST EXPOSED ROLE YET

Pamela Anderson: she's a killer.

Pamela Anderson: she's a killer.

The new short film Connected, directed by acclaimed fashion photographer Luke Gilford, is a fabulous work of science fiction. The film, which physically premiered at Milk Los Angeles and was released online by Motherboard, recounts the tale of a spin instructor in Los Angeles named Jackie. She tries all manner of items that supposedly provide the key to enlightenment, listening to self-help podcasts (narrated by Jane Fonda), making juices and taking supplements, and lying in a mysterious hyperbaric chamber in a wellness center that happens to be managed by Dree Hemingway.

Jackie seems lonely and vulnerable, a wounded bird just looking for meaning in her life. This quest leads her to a retreat with Hemingway, where Gilford manages to intersect LA’s wellness culture and our increasing reliance on technology in a way that’s both sinister and beautiful, exploring a strain of science fiction that’s absolutely fascinating.

The hook? Jackie, an aging, slightly tragic woman who’s desperately searching to connect, is played by legendary sex symbol Pamela Anderson. And she’s fantastic.

Anderson has been famous for decades, but as she’s said, she’s never truly acted. She’s depicted on screen in a way that she’s never been before; there’s no red bathing suit, and the only time she shows any skin is in a tender scene where Jackie looks in a bathroom mirror, critically examining her body. “There’s some pretty ugly scenes in the film, but they turned out to be the most beautiful,” said Anderson. “I looked in that mirror in the bathroom and went, ‘Are you serious, Luke? Am I really gonna do this? I don’t have any light, like it couldn’t get worse than this. I think I’m gonna have a seizure. I feel like I’m in Target, what’s happening?’ And then I looked at him and he looked at me like, ‘Pamela, we’re here. We’re doing this.’”

Anderson was understandably nervous. But she pushed through and accomplished what is perhaps her finest work ever. “I saw just a little clip by mistake [during production],” she said. “It was very blue, and I thought, ‘Wow, that is such a beautiful image!’ It had nothing to do with me. I just felt something and I said, ‘I didn’t realize even the slightest emotion that you’re feeling can really transfer onto the screen, especially a big screen.’” It was a real breakthrough.

It’s certainly a new experience to see Anderson in this vein: stripped back, raw, while simultaneously more covered up and more naked than any Playboy spread she’s ever done. Gilford knew that he wanted to go for a disarming effect. “I’ve always been very connected to sex symbols—Brigitte Bardot, Marilyn Monroe,” he said. “Their allure is primarily as a sex symbol, and that makes me wonder what’s underneath.”

Gilford’s photo series, also called “Connected.”

Gilford’s photo series, also called “Connected.”

So it was with Anderson, who was America’s most adored pinup during his childhood. Gilford told me that he’s fascinated by transformation, self-perception, and body modification, and that he knew he wanted to cast a sex symbol in a film exploring said issues. So when Anderson cut her trademark blonde locks into a pixie cut in 2013, Gilford took notice and saw this as confirmation that there really is more to Pam Anderson than meets the eye. He had his publicist send her a copy of Safe, the great Todd Haynes film starring Julianne Moore. “The logline of that film was, ‘A horror movie to the soul,’ and I wanted something really similar, but for now,” said Gilford. “Then it was about chemicals. [Moore’s] character was afraid of chemicals and the environment, which was actually an allegory for the AIDS crisis. At this point, I was wondering about how technology has affected our lives— and this eternal, existential search, longing for connection, and how hyper-connected we are, and this sort of inverse quality to this hyper-connected world that we’re in.”

“I EXPECTED HER TO BE THIS SORT OF CRAZY, PILL-POPPING PARTY WOMAN, LIKE A REAL HOUSEWIFE OR SOMETHING, AND THAT WASN’T HER AT ALL.”

Anderson responded immediately, and the two met for what was supposed to be a half hour-long meeting. They ended up spending hours together, going through “several bottles of wine,” according to Gilford. “I expected her to be this sort of crazy, pill-popping party woman, like a Real Housewife or something, and that wasn’t her at all,” he said. “She was really, extremely intelligent and down to Earth, and she was inspired by a lot of older films that I loved.” They connected over the Louis Malle classic Elevator to the Gallows, and a partnership was born.

It’s been a fulfilling work relationship for both Anderson and Gilford. “Luke’s so young, so he knows better than all these dinosaur filmmakers,” said Anderson. “He really has this rebel idea and he can agree with everybody. So I really trust him and I really trust that he knows what he’s doing and I’m just so grateful to work with him. He’s such a visionary.”

“Connected”

“Connected”

Exploring elements of aging in Hollywood and its connection to (or lack thereof) technology were of interest to both parties. The character is both foreign and familiar to Anderson, who isn’t looking for much connection through technology; last year, she got rid of her phone for about six months, only using it to speak to her children, who attend boarding school in Canada.

“It’s funny: when I look at the film, I don’t see me at all,” she said. “Which is really bizarre, because anything I’ve ever done has been just basically a cameo or playing myself. Even Baywatch was just me. They wrote the character about me and about my experiences. So I really haven’t had an opportunity to play a character outside of me.”

“Of course, you always draw from experience and I am the same age as the character. I’m going through similar things. I’m alone, I don’t have my kids, they’re growing up and they’ve moved on. And it really is an emotional time for women when they start looking in the mirror and see, you know, you’re changing, you’re getting older, what does that mean for me? Am I gonna be alone the rest of my life?”

“I TOLD LUKE, ‘I CAN’T DO THIS FILM IF I’M MARRIED. I CAN’T BE IN THIS [HEAD]SPACE IF I’M DOING THIS FILM.’”

Anderson felt that she needed to be in a certain emotional place before doing the film. “I told Luke, ‘I can’t do this film if I’m married. I can’t be in this [head]space if I’m doing this film.’ So it worked out that I got a divorce and we did the film right after, and it was really therapeutic for me because a lot of [the issues the film covers] were on my mind, about the choices I’m making for the wrong reasons.”

Her character is constantly reaching for something that might be emotionally helpful, therapeutic, freeing. As a Southern California native, I thought one of the film’s greatest strengths was how it tackles the underlying darkness of LA’s cult of self-improvement. Gilford was born and bred in California, and understands its allure and inherent fallacy.

“Connected”

“Connected”

“Pamela represents California culture in a really interesting way,” he said. “On the one hand, California represents this obsession with youth and beauty that’s quite shallow, and around the world that’s associated with California. California also represents this sort of existential longing for deeper meaning, and wellness culture. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that those two things coexist in places like Malibu. Those two things lead to a very specific kind of alienation that I wanted viewers to feel in the film.”

I’ve always been an Anderson fan. She’s charming and passionate about causes that matter to her, especially animal rights and veganism. After speaking with her, it was especially clear that she deserves solid, intelligent work like Gilford’s. And she wants to keep going. “I feel like now I got the bug,” she said. “I want to do more and I want to expand it more, because now I really have the opportunity to apply myself to anything.” But there is no straight career path. “I have no plan. That’s kind of my plan. David LaChapelle always says I’m the least ambitious person, and the least calculated person. But I do want to do some great things.” Films with LaChapelle and Franco are next up, as well as a continued collaboration with Gilford.

“Movies”

“Movies”

The 1960s-style photos seen here come from another project with the director, called “Movies.” It’s an ongoing series, inspired by films that both Anderson and Gilford love. “We just started telling each other stories about this woman’s life: her trauma, her pleasures, her highs, and her lows,” said Gilford. “Throughout the shoot, we started acting things out together for me to capture in a single photo. It’s a really fluid and experimental process that we’ve developed through creating these different characters.”

“For a while, Pamela represented this one type of character: this sort of cartoon image of this blonde bombshell Barbie doll,” he said. “So now it’s been really fun for us to create [these] kind of other characters that are much more complex and nuanced and layered.”

“There’s this kind of curiousness people have about me, and these people that have shown interest in working with me,” said Anderson. “I’m on these people’s radar, and a lot of young filmmakers I find are looking to me in a different way than my peers look at me. They’re looking at me like, ‘There’s a human being behind this person.’”

Milk presents limited edition prints of Luke Gilford’s untitled portraits from two new series of photographs, “Connected” and “Movies,” featuring Pamela Anderson.

BY JOCELYN SILVER  Prints are now available for purchase online at the Milk Gallery Store.

Pamela Anderson on Activism, the Baywatch Movie and the End of an Era at Playboy

Pamela Anderson and Hugh Hefner at the Playboy mansion in October 2015. Ellen von Unwerth/Courtesy of Playboy

Pamela Anderson and Hugh Hefner at the Playboy mansion in October 2015. Ellen von Unwerth/Courtesy of Playboy

'How did Hefner get away with it? Because of his generosity. The mansion was full of intellectuals. It wasn’t sleazy.'

When Pamela Anderson came to the U.S. from Canada to pose for Playboy in 1989, she thought she would be here for one photo shoot and then leave, she tells TIME. More than 26 years later, she’s been on the cover 14 times, most recently on the January/February issue that marked the last time the magazine would include nude photographs. She also embarked on an acting career that included a starring role in the lifeguard drama Baywatch, and has become an outspoken advocate for PETA and other charities.

TIME caught up with Anderson on her commitment to activism, her thoughts on feminism and whether we’ll see her in the upcoming Baywatch movie.

TIME: You’ve been a strong supporter of animal, human and environmental rights through your foundation and your work with organizations including PETA, Sea Shepherd and Cool Earth. Why is philanthropy so important to you?

Pamela Anderson: I’ve always been an activist. I grew up in the woods on Vancouver Island. My parents taught me to be respectful of the planet. I had a grandfather who was really into fairy tales and mythology; he used to dance on treetops, like really outrageous things, so that was always a part of my childhood. I’ve had this affinity for animals from a really young age. I had an aunt who was deaf who was like the Pied Piper of feral cats. I don’t know how she had all these cats around her all the time. And I really felt like people who are so sensitive to animals—usually because of some kind of trauma in childhood or something that makes you have this all of a sudden affinity with animals—I feel like you can trust them.

People would bring me birds with broken wings; I had a cat that walked sideways (which is really funny looking back; I’ve never seen it since. But I’ve had all sorts of misfits gather around me my whole life—people, animals, whatever you want to call them. It was part of my natural life.

And then when I was on Baywatch, and I was in 150 countries, and I was getting so much attention for really unimportant things. I felt like I needed to share that attention with something more meaningful. So I reached out to PETA and said: Give me something meaningful to talk about when I’m giving press conferences about my personal life.

I founded my foundation 15 years ago, but I didn’t make it active until the Cannes Film Festival a couple of years ago. I thought: There’s a real disconnect between me as a public person and the real human being behind that image. So I felt like it was really important to tell my story. That’s when I talked about some of the abuse I faced as a child. And I let people know I’d been an activist for 20 years.

I’ve met all these great artists and mentors along the way, like Vivienne Westwood and Julian Assange and just tons of interesting, really amazing people. I actually met a lot of people at the Playboy mansion when I first came to America. I felt like that was my university. I went there and I met the best artists, musicians, actors, philanthropists, activists and people who spoke about politics and art and culture. It was really an important part of the scene back then, and I’ve been reflecting on that now that Playboy is making this big change, and we’re coming to the end of that era.

You recently were on the cover of the last nude edition of Playboy. What do you think of the magazine’s decision to stop publishing nude images?

It’s bittersweet for me. It was such an innocent, sexy, girl-next-door time. I know the magazine is switching gears, and Hugh Hefner is coming to the end of his life, which will mean the end of an era for sure.

He always said: “You are part of the Playboy DNA. You are the type of girl that I made this magazine for.” He used to always be so proud of me when I did anything—“You’re the first Playmate ever to be on Disney!” “You’re the first Playmate to be knighted!” It gets funnier. And you know, it was such an innocent time.

Even back to the Studio 54 days. Even though it was sex, drugs, rock and roll, it was a playful time. There wasn’t this darkness associated with it. Everyone was covered in tin foil and glitter.

We were pretty girls running around in lingerie, and there were these very interesting, chivalrous men who were so exciting to talk to about politics and activism. And reading the articles is really part of Playboy. It had great articles on a lot of interesting topics. It had a real political voice. It was part of the sexual revolution.

I know there were a lot of feminists who were against Playboy and against Hefner. But I felt so empowered by Playboy and by being a playmate and just knowing the people that I knew when I was there.

There’s this desensitization now. With everything on the Internet, there’s just no such thing as the girl next door anymore. Everyone’s taking selfies and shooting pictures down their blouses at a very young age. And their self worth is based on how many likes and followers they have. I hope it’s a phase, and that it passes. I’m not a fan of social media or gadgetry. I feel like human interaction is missing. That face-to-face interaction, or even conversations on the telephone seem intimate now.

I don’t know what’s going to happen with the magazine, but I’m really glad I was part of the original. My son actually said to me: “Mom, they’re not shooting any more nude photos in Playboy.” And I said: “What?” And then my dad called and was reminiscing about all the times he’s met Hefner and come up to the mansions and said: “I can’t believe they’re not going to do this anymore.”

I remember finding the first Playboy in my dad’s basement and thinking: “Wow these women are beautiful. Is that what I’m going to look like when I grow up?”

Hefner also recently announced that he’s selling the Playboy mansion…

He’s selling it, and he gets to live there until he’s no longer, and that’s smart! Because who wants to be fighting over the Playboy mansion when he’s gone?

The next phone call after my dad hung up with me was Hef. He said: “You’re the only one—from Marilyn to Pamela.” I was like: “What?!” You know when I moved here from Canada, I didn’t think I would still be here. I thought I would be here for one photo shot and then leave.

In the last photo shoot, I was crawling across the grass in front of the mansion, and then I just said: “I have to do something really fun.” And I just rolled down the whole hill, with shoes and boobs and hair flying everywhere. It was funny. I never thought I’d be shooting Playboy again, but I did! And now it feels like, that’s that.

Is there any one memory from Playboy that stands out?

Whenever Hefner walked into the room, he was such a bright light, such a charismatic being. Just the way he looked at you, he just made you feel so special. Anytime I was going through a tough time, Hef would always call me. He’d send me these letters—typed letter with his signature.

I remember going through a divorce and going up there and seeing Smokey Robinson and me looking at him and saying: “I know. I did it again. I can’t believe I’m going through another divorce.” And he looked at me and goes: “Darling, you’re a romantic, you just keep trying. Don’t stop trying.” And I said to myself: “If Smokey Robinson thinks it’s OK, you’re right, I’m just a romantic. I’m going to keep trying.”

I had a lot of advice from people who were just fantastic people. And knowing Bettie Page and just everybody that you can’t believe is real are real human beings up there, having fun, but also concerned about the world and not just each other. That’s what I feel the difference is. It’s the end of an era, but it’s also an era to look back to, and we have to know our history to know our future.

Hefner, how did he get away with it? He’s the only one. Right? How did he get away with it? Because of his generosity. The mansion was full of intellectuals. It wasn’t sleazy.

Some people say nude photos can be destructive to women; others say they’re empowering. What do you think? Would you consider yourself a feminist?

I don’t want to call myself that. But I feel like I’ve taken all my female attributes into my own hands and used them for good.

My kids have also fought a few battles over me. When they were teenagers and their friends would say: “I’ve seen your mom naked,” they would get a little pop in the jaw from one of the kids. I had to go to the principal’s office a few times, because they’re very protective.

But as they got older, they look back and think: “I see what you’ve done now, Mom. I’ve see how you’ve used your image for good, and I’m proud.”

I turned to Brandon, and I said: “How do you feel bout me posing for Playboy again?” And he said: “You have to do it! It’s the last one! You have to do it! We’ve already fought all the battles. It can only be you, Mom.”

OK, there I go. I got permission from my kids.

You recently announced that you had been cured of Hepatitis C. What did that mean to you and what would you tell people diagnosed with it today?

When I was diagnosed with Hep C, I was told I only had 10 years to live, and that was 17 years ago. About five years into that I was told that, you can live your whole life with this disease. It’s not a sexually transmitted disease. You can have monogamous relationships. You’re more likely to die of something else, I was told. And then 10 years into it I was told, I did biopsy, I had no liver damage and people told me, keep doing what you’re doing, there’s going to be a cure one day. And as I’m seeing people die along the way, I’m keeping my hope alive to. I had no cirrhosis, no liver damage. I’m a health person, I live a vegan lifestyle, I’m not saying I’m an angel, but I was pretty healthy.

Then my doctor called and said: “There’s a cure.” And I said: “Really?” And then a friend of mind did it and he was really cured. And I ended up getting the treatment for – because I have type 3 so it’s not the most curable, it’s a little rarer, it’s not the one that most people have and so they said this would work for me. I had to take two pills a day for 12 weeks and then go get tested. And I went and got tested and it’s gone. It worked. I don’t have Hep C anymore.

I got 20 years back in my life, and I’m totally committed to my activism and what I want to do. It lit a fire under me that I feel really grateful for.

Do you have any thoughts on the upcoming Baywatch movie?

I just got a call that they’re offering me a part in it, like a cameo or something. I don’t know if I’ll do it. I don’t know how that benefits me in any way. I just feel like I’m doing so many other great films and things that are really interesting. But I’m really honored by the way they want to honor me; it’s kind of an homage to me. I may make an appearance in it.

I’m not a fan of films that are films of television series, because I think it was so great the way it was. We all thought we were doing incredible work. Looking back, it’s kind of funny, you could watch it with the sound off. But it’s beautiful. We didn’t know we were being sexy. We were just in athletic bathing suits rescuing people, and we thought it was serious stuff. So a spoof on a spoof—I just don’t know how they’ll get that charm. But we’ll see. I was excited they called.

What’s next?

I have my little premier of my short film I did with Luke Gilford, who is David Lynch’s protégée. And I just feel so grateful that he saw something special in me. It’s a very vulnerable, character-driven role. It’s unrecognizable. So I’m very excited about him and our collaboration.

Lots of young people ­– directors and others who are hovering around me right now working on movies and things like that. So I think I’m ready to do some filming and get into my writing and just stick with all my activism, everything I’m doing with Sea Shepherd and PETA and Cool Earth and Climate Revolution and all these great charities. Also women’s charities, rights for girls, National Women’s Domestic Violence Hotline. I raised $200,000 for them in the last year and a half, which is really important to me as well, to make sure people have places to go that are struggling.

But you know, they’re auctioning off my old engagement ring, which is kind of funny. The money it took to pay for that engagement ring will save half the rainforest Papua New Guinea, so I’m starting to go through my storage and think, what can I sell? What can I get rid of and give to someone who knows what to do with it? This is more important than me holding on to something I’ll never wear again. It’s fine with the man who gave it to me.

by Kirsten Salyer