The first trailer for Liam Neeson’s upcoming The Naked Gun sequel has recently been released, showcasing the actor’s transformation into Frank Drebin Jr, the son of Leslie Nielsen’s protagonist from the original movies. The reboot is said to be a direct sequel to The Naked Gun 33 ⅓: The Final Insult, which saw Detective Drebin called back from retirement to investigate a potential terrorist threat at the Academy Awards. The Naked Gun is a very exciting project for Liam Neeson, who rarely steps into the comedy genre anymore despite his hilarious on-screen presence.

However, there’s more to be excited about The Naked Gun than just Liam Neeson’s involvement. The film is being written by Dan Gregor of How I Met Your Mother, Doug Mand of Pretty Smart, and Akiva Schaffer of The Lego Movie and Saturday Night Live. It’s a huge crew of recognizable names within the comedy business, and from the initial trailer alone, it’s clear that The Naked Gun reboot is going to maintain the same wit and humor of the original movies. However, the trailer also keeps certain aspects of the movie secret, including some major casting announcements.

Pamela Anderson’s Role In The Naked Gun Hasn’t Been Shown Yet

The Actress Didn’t Appear In The Trailer

One of the major aspects about Liam Neeson’s Naked Gun reboot that hasn’t been revealed yet is Pamela Anderson’s supporting role – which is also among the film’s most exciting and promising features. The actress has been somewhat absent from Hollywood over the past few decades, but she’s been making an evident comeback with projects like The Last Showgirl, which display just how talented and gifted she is as an actress. The Naked Gun offers a perfect opportunity to prove that this acting talent is transferable to comedy, which famously requires a very different skillset.

The decision to cast Pamela Anderson in The Naked Gun is a strange one that very few audiences could have predicted, but it’s also a very bold choice that could pay off huge dividends. The fact that the upcoming reboot’s trailer doesn’t reveal anything about Anderson’s character is an equally strange decision, suggesting that there may be something more to her role than initially meets the eye. The Naked Gun has never been a franchise that takes the easy route in its storytelling, and there could be something very subversive planned for Anderson’s character that will justify her unconventional casting.

Why Pamela Anderson’s Appearance In The Naked Gun Is So Exciting

The Actress Doesn’t Usually Take Comedy Roles Like This

Anderson isn’t particularly well-known for her comedic talents, which is why it’s even more exciting that filmmaker Akiva Schaffer is giving her an opportunity to play so strongly against type here. The actress is clearly great in dramatic roles, as proven by movies such as The Last Showgirl and The Insтιтute, but comedy probably isn’t the genre that most audiences would ᴀssociate her with. The last comedic projects that she worked on were City Hunter and Superhero Movie, both of which faced pretty mixed reviews from critics.

The opportunity to join such a beloved franchise as The Naked Gun may be the perfect chance for Anderson’s comedic career to take off in a way that’s never quite worked out before. Liam Neeson is a reliably great comic actor, and the film’s supporting cast includes such talents as Paul Walter Hauser and Danny Huston – with these hilarious actors by her side, it’s difficult to imagine how Anderson’s performance could fail here.

Even if the reboot doesn’t quite live up to the quality of the original film, there’s sure to be plenty of creative jokes and running gags for Anderson to sink her teeth into. The Naked Gun is so unlike Pamela Anderson’s previous projects that it begs the question of whether her casting may be a slightly ironic one, with her character displaying some comedic similarities to her real-life persona. This would be a very interesting way of weaving some meta-textual humor into The Naked Gun without making it too obvious; alternatively, it’s entirely possible that Anderson was cast on her acting ability alone.

The Naked Gun Can Continue Pamela Anderson’s Acting Renaissance

The Actress Continues A Trend Of Bold, Unconventional Performances

Even if The Naked Gun isn’t the huge success that many audiences are hoping for, it’s enough exposure to continue the Hollywood comeback that Anderson started with The Last Showgirl in 2024. That movie was an enormous success among critics, telling the story of a Las Vegas showgirl who struggles to maintain a healthy relationship with her daughter in tandem with her professional line of work. The film received plenty of praise for its transgressive themes and subversive storytelling, but it was Anderson’s lead performance that really captured critics’ attention.

Anderson received nominations at both the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors’ Guild Awards for her performance as Shelly Gardner, which was so much more emotional and vulnerable than anything the actress had tackled before. Although Pamela Anderson wasn’t nominated at the Oscars, there was a time when it seemed like a definite possibility – and this was the start of the actress’s so-called “comeback” to Hollywood after several years away from the spotlight. The film was a perfect reminder of just how much acting talent Anderson has, despite often being ᴀssociated with projects like Baywatch and being unable to break away from this particular typecasting.

The Naked Gun offers Anderson another chance to continue this comeback, proving that her talents aren’t stuck in the past and that she’s still capable of turning in powerful, nuanced performances. While it’s unlikely that The Naked Gun will receive the same critical acclaim as The Last Showgirl, and it almost certainly won’t push her towards an Oscar nomination again, it’s arguably a much stronger career move than another so-called “Oscar-bait” project.

The Naked Gun proves that Anderson isn’t afraid to play against type, and that she’s not exclusively interested in projects with critical acclaim attached to them. Even if this comedy sequel isn’t a success, it’s hard to imagine a world where audiences rally against Anderson’s performance and don’t want to see her attempt comedy again – this feels like a much-needed career movie that’s necessary to remind audiences of just how versatile the actress can be.