Scarlett Johansson is joining the chorus of celebrities praising Pamela Anderson for her recent makeup-free statement at Paris Fashion Week.
In a new interview, the Lost in Translation star, 38, said she was impressed by Anderson’s confidence and “powerful” example.
“I think it is definitely different to see somebody that’s in the public eye, a woman in the public eye, go to a fashion show or big event with no makeup on. It’s just very different from what we’re used to,” Johansson told PopSugar of Anderson.
“It’s a powerful message for women to see that, whether they follow suit or whatever the effect is, in the zeitgeist. It’s powerful for women to see other women rejecting standard beauty norms,” the actress continued.
Johansson said remembering her own struggles with acne in her teens and 20s makes Anderson’s move that much more inspiring. She recounted a painful experience while shooting her 2005 movie, The Island, when her complexion flaws became a topic of discussion among the crew.
“The conversation on set [was] about lighting and hiding your bad skin,” she said. “The conversation between the director and the makeup artist and the cinematographer and the lighting person. I remember it was so, so mortifying.”
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Anderson, 56, explained her bold decision to forgo makeup while making the rounds of Paris Fashion Week in a video for Vogue France. The Baywatch star said she didn’t come to Paris with the intention of appearing barefaced, but the idea suddenly struck her.
“I don’t know, something just kind of came over me and I was dressing in these beautiful clothes and I thought, ‘I don’t want to compete with the clothes,’ ” she said. “I’m not trying to be the prettiest girl in the room. I feel like it’s just freedom. It’s a release.”
Anderson went on to share that she’s feeling the “happiest that I’ve ever been in my own skin,” noting she finally understands the wisdom her mother gave her when she was younger.
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“My mom always told me, ‘At some point in your life you’re not gonna want to wear makeup on your skin.’ And she’s right,” she said.
“You kind of have to challenge beauty sometimes,” she added. “You know, if we all chase youth, or we’re chasing our idea of what fashion magazines and everything, we’re only gonna be disappointed or maybe a little bit sad. So I feel like this is it.”
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Anderson also said she feels a certain responsibility, as a celebrity aging in the spotlight, to lead by example. “I feel as a woman and a woman of my age, and a woman in the public eye… it’s also your job to be a model of everything,” she explained. “Just all sorts of choices. So I am just being me, kind of who I am, in all these great clothes running around Paris.”
Like Johansson, Jamie Lee Curtis was wowed by Anderson’s decision to shake up beauty standards.
“THE NATURAL BEAUTY REVOLUTION HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN!” Curtis, 64, cheered in an Oct. 1 Instagram post featuring a photo of Anderson attending the Isabel Marant show. “@pamelaanderson in the middle of fashion week with so many pressures and postures, and this woman showed up and claimed her seat at the table with nothing on her face.”
“I am so impressed and floored by this act of courage and rebellion,” the Freaky Friday star added.
A number of other celebrities chimed in in the comments, agreeing with Curtis.
“That’s pretty iconic,” comedian Chelsea Handler wrote, while Selma Blair called it a display of “beautiful self-assuredness.”
