Pamela Anderson Opens Up About Aging: "You Can Find Yourself At a Loss"

The "Baywatch" alum recently opened up to W magazine about aging, her divorce and her serious new role.

Anderson plays Jackie in the short film "Connected," which addresses some of the consequences of living in an "image-obsessed" society -- an issue she's very much had experience with in her own life.

"Aging is something we all deal with," she tells the mag. "At a certain age, you can find yourself at a loss. Your children are grown. You may have gone through a divorce. You're trying to find meaning. What's your purpose now? You've raised your kids, and now they think you're a little crazy, because you're trying to do all these self-help things. You become distant from everybody. You're searching for answers. If I do all these things to look younger—the creams, the classes, the supplements, the procedures—I'll be more accepted by my kids, my friends, men. You're dealing with so much loss at this age. It seems like everything is behind us, so what's next? We took a lot of things for granted—youth, beauty. But now what?"

Pam likewise had the opportunity to address these issues in the short film, a role she says is very different from anything she has ever done before.

"This is the first time I've ever been in a serious role," she reveals. "I've done Baywatch, and other things on TV that I could do with my eyes closed—run around in a bikini, et cetera. But it was fun to play a really dramatic character."

And it was the actress' divorce from Rick Salomon last year that really helped her channel Jackie's delicate demeanor.

"I look back at pictures of myself when I was in this awful relationship, and I looked 20 years older,” she explains. "I know it sounds like a cliché, but happiness has a lot to do with beauty. Calm, peacefulness and not-constant stress are very, very important to feeling beautiful and confident. And that comes across whether you're wearing makeup or not. I remember looking in the mirror during filming and saying, 'Who is this person? How did I let myself get to this place?'"

Nevertheless, the 48-year-old beauty has been able to let go of all the pain from her past relationship and, unlike her character, she's enjoyed the aging process.

"I actually like aging," she says. "I have great older female role models in my life, including my amazing mom, who have glitz, glamour, and all sorts of fun. Getting older isn't the end. I know I have so much to look forward to."