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Pamela Anderson posed for Playboy to overcome her shyness.

The 57-year-old actress first stripped off for the adult publication in 1989 and over the course of 22 years appeared on more of its covers than any other model, and explained she was spurred to do so to get rid of her "paralysing" feelings.

Discussing how her role as Shelly in 'The Last Showgirl' struck a chord, she told NPR: "I'm a very shy person. I did 'Playboy' because I was so shy and I wanted to et over my shyness. It was paralysing.

"I think Shelly felt powerful on stage.

"She felt seen and beautiful and that's where she felt safest, on stage. That resonated with me."

The former 'Baywatch' star may have been in the public eye for decades, but she feels 'The Last Showgirl' feels like the beginning of her career.

She said: "Really, the rest of it was just boot camp.

"I had this wonderful, messy, wild life to draw from, and I could never have played Shelly if I didn't have that life…

"I think I'm always reinventing myself. I like to call it playing characters. But in this chapter, I really wanted to go back into my childhood almost, and go, 'Who am I? Who was I meant to be? "

Pamela wants the movie to be her "legacy".

She said: "When I did Broadway, the only picture I had on my mirror was a picture of me at four years old, before life happened.

"And I said, 'I just need to get out of the way. I'm gonna let her do it.' And so I did it for her.

"And I feel like this film, too, is about that. I want this to be my legacy.

"I don't want what's happened to me to define me. I want what I do to define me."

And Pamela is excited about the future.

She said: "I want to do theatre. I want to do musical theatre. I want to come to the West End. I want to go on Broadway again.

"And I want to make my pickles and my jam."