Pamela Anderson reflects on shedding ‘cartoon image' that ‘hurt' her kids

Pamela Anderson is moving on from her Baywatch image to nurture her true self.

In a new interview, Anderson called her image a "cartoon character that I'd created" and shared that she now focuses on her family and her health.

The actress and model has been creating headlines lately due to her make-up free appearances at big events.

When asked about the choice to give up makeup, she told Better Homes & Garden, "That was the beginning of me letting go of the image I had always had of myself. What is this cartoon character that I’d created? OK, that was fun. But I’m not that person anymore.”

"It was a dance I was doing that I was only partly aware of," she reflected. "And looking back, I can see why I did it. But I've always been into being a homemaker too."

Her sons Brandon Thomas Lee and Dylan Jagger Lee were a major reason she gave up that image, since it hurt them in their childhood.

"All the kids were always at our house. I cooked for everybody, pots of spaghetti for the neighborhood, and so my kids have always seen that part of me,” she shared.

"And it hurt them to think that those other things are the only things people think of their mom,” she continued.

However, she went on to note that her sons understand that she’s more than her previous image: "Yes, she's been in Playboy. Yes, she's done all these things, but we know who she is. It's different now.”

Pamela Anderson will next be seen opposite Liam Neeson in a reboot of The Naked Gun.