Last week, Pamela Anderson went viral — for her lush, enchanting garden.

She’d never felt comfortable with the whole “sex symbol” thing after all, referring to that pleasure-seeking period as “the blurry years,” and is relishing this softer, quieter chapter of her life, replete with reading, tending to her 15,000-square-foot garden on Vancouver Island and plenty of soul-searching.

“It’s a beautiful day,” she coos. “I’m on the island, loving my garden. It’s such a good place to unplug and refuel.”

Anderson is experiencing a rare break since she’s never been more in demand. It all started with “Pamela, a Love Story,” an eye-opening Netflix documentary exploring her early life and years under the harsh spotlight. It was not only nominated for a pair of Emmys, but caught the eye of filmmaker Gia Coppola, who subsequently offered Anderson the role of a Vegas showgirl who’s aging out of the biz in “The Last Showgirl.” Anderson’s heartfelt, affecting performance earned her the best reviews of her career, as well as Golden Globe and SAG nominations for Best Actress. Then came last year’s studio comedy “The Naked Gun,” where she flexed her comedy muscles en route to even more critical acclaim, followed by a press tour where she and costar Liam Neeson earned plenty of ink cosplaying as a lovey-dovey couple.

Now, the 59-year-old actress has four films coming out in the coming year, the first of which is “Rosebush Pruning.” Directed by Karim Aïnouz and written by Efthimis Filippou (who’s penned most of Yorgos Lanthimos’ films), it’s a provocative, pitch-black satire about a perversely affluent, incestuous family who believe that their mother (Anderson) was consumed by wolves. Tracy Letts plays her perverted husband, while Callum Turner, Jamie Bell, Lukas Gage and Riley Keough star as her very messed up children, and Elle Fanning is Bell’s paramour.

“She was generous and open to taking risks. Her intelligence and sensibility, her refined sense of humor, made the character unique,” Aïnouz says of Anderson. “And moreover, she has a mystery and a charisma which is the trademark of a true movie star.”

And when I say “incestuous,” I mean it. Everyone in this family is having sex with each other, epitomized by a scene midway through the film wherein Turner performs oral sex on Letts’ father while he furiously brushes his teeth. Anderson, 59, enjoys how “Rosebush Pruning” forces people out of their comfort zone and makes them confront the depravity of the filthy rich.

“I like stirring it up and I don’t need to be liked,” she declares.

Below, she tells Variety all about it:

What attracted you to “Rosebush Pruning?” It’s a pretty provocative film, to say the least.

I thought it was timely and a very interesting script. I’m a fan of Efthimis’ and, of course, Yorgos’ work, and so between he and Karim, who I also love, I knew it was going to be visually stimulating and provocative. And I just felt like there is this epidemic of young wealth for no good reason. There is something to be said about that.

I loved when Tracy Letts spoke at the press conference and he said, “It’s about fascism.” It feels like a political film, in a way, but shown artistically, with Karim talking about patriarchy by using his visual and storytelling talent. So, yes, the film is disturbing, but so is a lot in the world. When I read the script, I thought, “This is really weird, but interesting, too.” I knew everyone wasn’t going to fall in love with it because art isn’t always popular. An artists’ responsibility is to confront the truth of things rather than chasing mass approval or trying to please everybody.

Could you talk more about this era we’re currently in where fascism is on the rise along with obscene wealth?

The fascism part is this narcissistic vapidness and empty style — a “clone me” AI unpoetic version of things. I felt this was an interesting expression of the times we’re in. It’s a shocking time and we can’t be too safe in our storytelling or be afraid to go too far. There’s nothing less interesting than inherited wealth, and there are generations of kids out there where I don’t know if they have a lot of empathy. I don’t like gore or gratuitousness, and I don’t think anything here was done for shock value. It’s all part of the story.

When you talk about the flattening of culture and other aspects of society, do you feel social media has a lot to do with that? That it fosters an insidious type of groupthink?

I’ve always thought about that, even with my children. I’m always like, “What are your original thoughts? What is something you think that nobody else does?” It’s important to remember what we love and who we are, and I’ve found that in this chapter of my life I’ve done a lot of soul-searching, and some of it is through my work. Each movie is better than therapy. I don’t want [my kids] to get caught up in other people’s thoughts. It’s very important to remember, “I’m human,” and maybe we need to repeat that to ourselves. It’s a very fast-paced, wild time. And one thing I love about the movie is that it’s so unpredictable and you don’t know what’s coming around the corner. I feel like this is what the cool kids are going to watch.

There is a moment in “Rosebush Pruning” where your character gets into a bathing suit and dives into her pool. Was that intended to be a nod to “Baywatch” at all?

No, not at all! I actually asked Karim if I could jump in the water and it was not in the script. I just felt like I needed to dive in. And I was playing older, in my 60s, and wanted to be free of worrying about what I look like and how I’m perceived. I am a mother, I am in my 60s and I am by my pool, so I told Karim, “Don’t shy away from this. I don’t care. The vanity is gone.”

You were excellent in “The Last Showgirl” and received Golden Globe and SAG nominations for Best Actress. Were you a little disappointed that the Oscars overlooked it?

Oh my gosh! Well, that just seems wild to me to even hear you say something like that. I feel like I’m really at the beginning of my career, in a way. I’ve done a few films since “The Last Show Girl,” including this and “Place to Be,” where I play Ellen Burstyn’s daughter, and she’s one of my heroes. I’m taking everything in like a sponge and have so much more to give. I’m taking the rest of the year off to support the films that I’ve done, because I have four films coming out in the next little while and I want them to be seen. And then, hopefully, I’ll keep on growing, doing new things and challenging myself. But I was pleasantly surprised by how “The Last Showgirl” was received and how many people reached out to congratulate me on the film. Now, I feel like I’m in my groove.