10 Established Actors Who Completely Failed At Being Action Stars
9. Pamela Anderson
Attempts: Barb Wire (1996)
Baywatch was one of the weirdest cultural phenomena of the 90s. A soap opera masquerading as an adventure series, it was ultimately just a series about lifeguards running toward danger in super slow motion that somehow lasted for 11 seasons. Two of the biggest reasons for that were the show's star, Pamela Anderson.
Looking to ride the wave of Anderson's cult popularity -- bolstered by the infamous Tommy Lee sex tape in 1995 -- she was cast in the R-rated Barb Wire, based on the Dark Horse comic of the same name. Anderson plays the titular role, a nightclub owner and mercenary who also strips on the side. No part of that sentence was made up just now.
But Pam Anderson was no Pam Grier, and her voluptuousness -- often confused for genuine sexuality -- only got in the way.
She took the movie too seriously to be camp, but not seriously enough to give it any kind of dramatic edge. Let's just call this what it is: An attempt to cash in on the pubescent population that would happily give their allowance to see Pamela Anderson strut around in a leather onesie that's fighting a losing battle in trying to contain her ample chest.