The cast of the upcoming Baywatch movie has been filling out with young actors lately, but now another familiar face has joined the project, returning to the franchise that helped make her a star.
Original Baywatch series regular Pamela Anderson has joined the cast of the film, as announced by the film’s star and co-producer, Dwayne Johnson. Anderson will join fellow Baywatch veteran David Hasselhoff in the film’s cast as the only two cast members from the original series to sign on for roles in the movie at this point.
As with previous casting announcements and other updates on the film, Johnson revealed the news via Instagram. The actor posted a photo of himself with Anderson, along with the caption, “She introduced the world to ‘CJ Parker’ and became one of the most iconic characters of a generation – for the most successful TV show of all time. A pleasure to welcome (as gorgeous as ever) Pamela Anderson to our #BAYWATCH cast. We couldn’t have made this movie without you. Welcome home. Thrilled you had a blast with us!”
Along with Johnson, Anderson, and Hasselhoff, the film’s cast includes Zac Efron, Alexandra Daddario, Kelly Rohrbach (who will play Anderson’s original series character, CJ Parker), Ilfenesh Hadera, Priyanka Chopra, Hannibal Buress, Belinda Peregrín, Izabel Goulart, and Charlotte McKinney.
The movie will feature Johnson as Hasselhoff’s original character, Mitch Buchannon, with Efron playing Matt Brody (originally played by David Charvet), Daddario playing Summer Quinn (originally played by Nicole Eggert), and Hadera playing Stephanie Holden (originally played by Alexandra Paul). There’s no word on the roles Anderson and Hasselhoff will play in the movie.
Despite being cancelled after its first season, Baywatch became massive hit after it went into first-run syndication, and aired for more than a decade. The series spawned two spinoff series, Baywatch Hawaii and Baywatch Nights, and multiple made-for-television movies.
Directed by Horrible Bosses and Identity Thief filmmaker Seth Gordon, the Baywatch movie is based on a script that’s been through several revisions, with the most recent draft penned by Friday the 13th writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift.
Baywatch is scheduled to hit theaters May 19, 2017.
