“I’m not an exhibitionist,” said Elizabeth Berkley (Michigan, 51) when she was a young artist of 22, known only for the Youth series Saved by the bell-AND He had just played the lead role Showgirlthe film by Dutch director Paul Verhoeven released in Spain in January 1996. Perhaps then Berkley only imagined that the role of Nomi Malone, a dancer who goes to Las Vegas with the desire to conquer the world and who acts in scenes pornosoft and full nudes, played by the actress with extreme professionalism. What she wasn’t prepared for, however, was the ferocious criticism the film received, a box office failure which, although it had become a cult film over the years, was an embarrassment to her entire crew in the late 1990s.
Now, when 30 years have passed since the premiere of Showgirlthe actress spoke The Hollywood journalist (THR) for this reason and for some professional projects, including a role in Ryan Murphy’s new legal drama, The whole law. In the interview with American specialized media, she revealed how complicated it was for her to get out of the hole she sank into after the film, which among other things she had to continue to defend in her professional commitments to the press when the rest of her colleagues had already moved on. Specifically, Berkley said of that time, “It wasn’t a pleasant experience, but I’m proud to have done it. I don’t give up easily. I wanted to speak. I wanted to be heard. I had no other platform.”
According to the report in THRto prepare for the difficult promotional interviews of Showgirl who was in front of her, the publicists showed her clippings of criticism that messed up her physique and her abilities: “Many things happened that would be unthinkable now; no one could have resisted such an attack,” said the interpreter, who also assured: “I didn’t understand how people could be so cruel, but I am strong. I had to separate what they said from what I believed to be true.”
But perhaps the hardest thing came later, when the industry doors were closed to Berkley: “For two years they wouldn’t let me audition,” he explains in the interview. “The hardest thing was literally being left out of something I was passionate about.” Determined to continue acting, she continued to teach acting and dance and kept an eye out for professional opportunities, even sending her auditions on tape, which was unusual for the time.
To you, who worked on the film with the team behind it Basic instinctthe film that glorified Sharon Stone, things didn’t go so well. He was finally getting some supporting roles, which is ironic given that today he’s starring in a film, Showgirlwhich is already considered a cult. She is currently immersed in a tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of the film that nearly ended her career, with dates scheduled in at least 10 U.S. cities featuring screenings, additional material and the presence of the leading lady. In one of them, in Austin, Texas, on October 9, she recounted the negative reactions she received after the premiere: “I took a beating, guys. It wasn’t fun at all for a while. I’m not going to lie. It was painful. I was isolated. I felt like I was abandoned by the same people I collaborated with,” she said at the time.
In the EL PAÍS report on the Spanish premiere of Showgirls, In 1996, Berkley was described as “22 years old, tall, very low-cut and with blond American hair,” and also mentioned “her admiration for Luis Buñuel, her studies of English literature, her interest in Goya’s paintings or her cinematic preferences for The postmanthe film about the poet Neruda.” Now, the once cursed star seems to be in a good place. In addition to her role in Murphy’s series – in which she plays a client in need of urgent help – and how she THRhas a role in Shellhis first film appearance in 15 years, alongside Kate Hudson and Elisabeth Moss.
