Pamela Anderson Wants To Ditch Her Famous Name
Pamela Anderson is mulling a new name to honor her Finnish grandfather — and a fresh start. The Canadian-American star, who has deep Finnish roots, shared the personal plan in a recent interview.
Pamela Anderson says she is ready to change her name - not as a stunt, but as a way to reconnect with where she comes from. In a new Vogue interview, the Canadian-born star talks about her Finnish roots, her grandfather who shaped her, and why the idea of becoming Pamela Hyytiäinen keeps pulling at her.
The name that still feels like home
'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 does not say who exactly won't let her, which makes it sound like a mix of bureaucracy and brand baggage. Either way, the impulse is clear: Anderson wants to carry her grandfather Herman Hyytiäinen's last name.
Herman, the poet-lumberjack who kept the culture alive
Anderson paints a vivid portrait of Herman: he worked as a logger, wrote poetry, and was obsessed with folklore. Even with the family settled in Canada, he taught her the language and filled her head with Finnish myths and stories. He died when she was 11, and with him, a lot of those shared passions faded from her daily life. As she puts it, that world kind of left when he did.
Why make the change now
At 58, Anderson is candid about how many times she has reinvented herself. She says her imagination has a mind of its own, she has tried on different versions of herself over the years, and sometimes the only way forward is to peel everything back and start fresh. For her, taking her grandfather's name would be a clean way to reconnect with her heritage and step into a new phase.
Also on her plate: a very unexpected movie
Anderson also previewed a new project called Love Is Not the Answer. The surprise here is who is behind it and who is in it. Yes, that Michael Cera - he wrote and directed it - and the cast lineup is not what you'd expect to see him wrangling.
- Title: Love Is Not the Answer
- Writer-director: Michael Cera
- Cast includes: Pamela Anderson, Liam Neeson, Shirley Henderson, Jamie Dornan
- Anderson's take: a layered character study about a complicated woman
- Release date: not announced yet
Between the personal reinvention and the left-field film pairing, Anderson sounds like she is actively rewriting the script on what comes next - name and all.