‘Baywatch’ star opens up about his co-stars, reveals shooting in the sun was no fun at all

Brande Roderick called her years on “Baywatch” “one of the best times” of her life.

Roderick, 50, particularly remembers filming the show’s last two seasons in “magical” Hawaii and feeling like a “little family” with the rest of the cast.

“We’re on an island where we only know each other,” Roderick told Fox News Digital. “And it was really just like, you know, a gathering of family friends every day. You’re just going out and having fun in the water and swimming and, you know, swimming with Aquaman, Jason Momoa, you know. You can’t ask for anything better than that.”

But she revealed that filming the series wasn’t always all about fun in the sun, adding that the new Hulu documentary, “After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun,” will show some of the personal struggles the cast went through while playing the beautiful lifeguards.

“People who look at celebrities and see this kind of ‘Baywatch’ beach babe lifestyle probably assume that, ‘Oh, you know, everybody’s life is perfect.’ And I think they’ll realize that not everybody’s life is or was perfect and that there are struggles that people have had to go through that the world probably doesn’t know about,” Roderick said.

“And I think it will definitely shed some light. People will be vulnerable and really, you know, talk about their experiences, not just the experiences that are portrayed on the show. It’s really their life experiences during that time period of the ’90s, early 2000s.”

She said she and the other cast members always felt pressure to be the “perfect ‘Baywatch’ babe”.

,I think a lot of actors will talk about, you know, the struggle to get to that image of being that fit, perfect Baywatch babe, whether you’re a man or a woman,” she revealed. “Men go through it, you know, women go through it, because all eyes are on you, right? And when you come out of that, you know, 20, 30, whatever age, it’s even harder to stay fit, right? But I think it’s something that people maybe don’t understand and don’t realise the pressure that some people have to go through.”

Roderick said his biggest misconception about “Baywatch” was that it would lay the groundwork for the rest of his career.

“Even when I booked ‘Baywatch,’ I had misconceptions about, you know, I booked the lead role, right? I thought, that’s it. I made it. And when the show got canceled and all of a sudden, I was out of a job, I was so wrong,” she told Fox News Digital. “And I thought, because I booked ‘Baywatch,’ which is the No. 1 watched show in the world, I would book it for the rest of my life, I would never have to audition again. Jobs would be thrown in front of me. And it was a rude awakening. That’s not how this business works.”

“So, you still have to go out there and work and struggle and make it happen. And I think people might think that, ‘Oh, once you do something like this, your life is easy.’ But it’s not. Not at all.”

Broderick recently made his directorial debut with the horror film “Wineville,” which he said was a challenge for him to both produce and star in.

,“I was playing all kinds of roles and putting out fires everywhere,” she said of the 1970s film. “Constantly. So, trying to meet everybody’s needs, the whole team, all the actors, plus trying to get ready to do a scene and be behind the camera, it was a lot. It was definitely a lot. But I would say that it was a huge dream of mine that I always wanted to fulfill. And I did it, and it was very exciting.”

He added that the crew made the film near the end of the pandemic, “so we faced a lot of challenges and we faced a lot of obstacles because of that, you know. Like, on the second day of shooting, our wardrobe girl got COVID.

“He had to go. We had to find somebody at the last minute who understood what we were doing. And it was a ’70s piece, you know, so it’s not like we were just dressed up in normal clothes. And it was based in 1978, and then, of course, trying to find all the ’70s cars. There were a lot of challenges, for sure. But being a producer and putting out all the fires, that was the hardest part, as well as trying to remember your lines and direct at the same time.”

The actress said she has kept in touch with some of her “Baywatch” co-stars over the years, most notably Carmen Electra, who she said she still sees “all the time.”

,“He’s one of the people I’ve probably been in touch with the most,” Broderick said.

He said he last saw Momoa at an autograph signing about a year and a half ago, and that he was like a “little brother” to him.

“Jason is like a little brother to me, and he’s a really sweet, amazing person, and he has a huge heart,” she told Fox News Digital. “And he’s still just like that big little kid. Even though he’s a lot older now, he still has that cute little childish side of him. Oh, it was really cute to see him. And the cool thing was that my kid went with us, and so he got to hang out and meet Aquaman, which was great.”

Broderick said he has lost touch with his former co-star Pamela Anderson, whom he last saw working together in the 2003 film “Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.”

The “Starsky & Hutch” star said he’s also all in for the show’s planned Fox reboot.

,I have already talked [co-creator] Michael [Berk]” he said. “I said, ‘Michael, I’m ready. I’m ready to come to Australia and have some fun.’ So definitely, I mean, it’s something I’m excited about and excited to be a part of.”