Being a sex symbol can be scary at times
Speaking on the How to Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast, the Baywatch star discussed her career, being typecast, her experience of abuse and her decision to no longer wear make-up on red carpets.
Anderson, who was a Playboy model before being propelled to fame in her role as lifeguard CJ Parker in Baywatch in the 1990s, described being a sex symbol as a "slippery slope".
The 58-year-old said: "I don't like being a sex symbol. I mean, I think it's not very sexy.
"I think we all aspire to be sexy in our relationships, but sexy for the world is, I don't know.
"It brought a lot of attention I didn't like, but I hate to say that because I'm not complaining, but I do feel that is a slippery slope where you are presenting yourself to the world like this and you get this attention back, that can be even scary at times.
"Me not wearing make-up and me being at this age, coming into this part of my career, I felt it was important for me in my personal life, to be more natural.
"I want to challenge myself and become and to be, present myself in different ways because women are many things.
"We're not just the wild animal between the sheets."
On her decision to be make-up free on red carpets, Anderson said she was not "letting myself go."
"I don't feel like I look like a mess when I walk out the door," she said.
"I'm just peeling it back to see who I am."
The actor added: "We have these generational habits, the way that we're brought up even, and just these things stick in our head, so I want to break free of that.
"I feel like this is a little bit of a rebel move is to be who you want to be, like what is beauty? Beauty's subjective?
"We don't have to look like the covers of magazines.
"We don't have to do the industry standard, which everybody was so horrified when I decided I didn't need a glam team for certain events."
Anderson has two sons with ex-husband Tommy Lee.
In 2022, her private life was shone under the spotlight once again, with the TV series Pam & Tommy dramatising their whirlwind romance.
She made her Broadway debut playing Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago in 2022, and last year she starred in the film The Last Showgirl, which led to her being nominated for a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award.
The full interview can be heard on the How To Fail With Elizabeth Day podcast.
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