Pamela Anderson reveals why she once stood up Quentin Tarantino

The actress is playing a dystopian version of herself in short online film, Connected

Pamela Anderson, best known for Baywatch and Playboy covers, is finally spreading her acting wings

Pamela Anderson has revealed that she once stood up Quentin Tarantino when he wanted to offer her a role.

The actress and former Playboy model, now 48, had been lined up the legendary director for a part in his exploitation movie Grindhouse but “freaked out” and bailed on him without warning.

“I didn’t even call him to tell him I wasn’t coming. I stood him up!” she told The Daily Beast, explaining that she arrived at the meeting but failed to get out of the car and face the throng of paparazzi who were already flashing their cameras.

Anderson hasn’t seen Tarantino since and puts her fearful reaction down to not being “ready”. “I couldn’t believe Tarantino wanted to meet me. I just freaked out and ran away,” she said. “But I was looking for any excuse not to go in there. It was self-sabotage; I just wasn’t ready.”

It is not only Tarantino who has spotted Anderson’s potential for on-screen roles out of her famous Baywatch swimsuit. She once received a letter from Werner Herzog saying he had “always wanted to work with her” and would “love to get her in his hands to do something, if she could trust him”. She followed up on the invitation and spoke at length with him, hinting that something may yet “come to fruition”.

First, Anderson will star in Luke Gilford’s arty short film Connected, described as a “portrait of a woman grappling with ageing, self-perception and transformation in a technologically optimised world”.She plays a dystopian version of herself, a “burnt-out AuraCycle instructor in the midst of a midlife crisis” who joins a wellness spa in a desperate bid to feel “connected” to her mind, body and soul.

Connected premieres online on Vice on 8 February.