How Pamela Anderson Channeled Her Love of Jazz in ‘The Naked Gun’ (Exclusive)

Pamela Anderson had the chance to showcase her passion for jazz in her new project The Naked Gun.

In an update of the 1988 slapstick comedy, she plays femme fatale Beth Davenport, who becomes involved with L.A. Police Squad lieutenant Frank Drebin (Liam Neeson) as he’s investigating her brother’s mysterious death.

When the case takes them to a private club where a jazz band is playing, Beth hops up on stage to scat with the band while Drebin snoops around.

Anderson — who performed on Broadway as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago in 2022 — drew from experience when it was time to film that scene and perform the song “Sassafras Chicken in D.”

”Well I was the scat soloist in eighth grade,” she tells PEOPLE. “I love jazz. I play saxophone, and I have scatted a few times.”

“So when I read that in the script I decided it was meant to be. Who else could do this? I think that’s how I [decided], ‘Maybe I can do this role,’” she adds.

“I love to scat. It was scripted, it wasn’t just impromptu. And I still can’t get it out of my head. I still can remember the entire thing, singing the jazz,” Anderson continues.

Neeson says that day was a particular highlight. “I remember your jazz concert. Everybody was just glued to the monitor,” he tells Anderson.

Anderson also remembers having jitters, she previously told Entertainment Weekly. 

“You have to have courage. You have to have courage to be an actor at all. But that’s my happy place is when I’m terrified,” she told the outlet. “I actually really enjoy singing. I love being on stage…. The feeling is so rewarding because I feel like we repress so much of ourselves, and especially as an artist, and I love to write and journal and write poetry, but performing and working on a movie is another way to express yourself because everything is loaded.”

EW reported that the sequence was filmed over the course of 12 hours, with Anderson singing live along with her pre-recorded track during each take.

“What you see in the final movie, it’s all Pam, but it’s a blend of pre-recorded and live. She performed it like a musical number,” said co-writer and director Akiva Schaffer. 

The Naked Gun is in theaters nationwide on Friday, Aug. 1.

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