“There was so much cruelty around it,” she recalled of the 1995 cult classic.
Elizabeth Berkley opened up about the difficult time she faced in Hollywood after her film “Showgirls” was widely panned upon its release in 1995.
The 48-year-old actress said she was “left out in the cold” and treated like a “pariah” during the backlash for the NC-17 flick, which was also a box office bomb.
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“Of course it was disappointing that it didn’t do well, but there was so much cruelty around it,” Berkley recalled to People. “I was bullied. And I didn’t understand why I was being blamed. The job as an actor is to fulfill the vision of the director. And I did everything I was supposed to do.”
“No one associated with the film spoke up on my behalf to protect me.”
The Tinseltown shun was so deep, it left a profound mark on her, according to the star.
“It changed me,” she explained. “It was a life moment, and I cannot help but say I would be a different person had I not gone through the depths of what it taught me.”
In 1992, the actress was coming off her hit series “Saved by the Bell” and said she was looking for something completely different for her next chapter.
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“‘Saved By The Bell’ was a beautiful first rite of passage for me,” Berkley said. “But as an artist, I was excited to dive a little deeper and explore.”
When the role of Las Vegas dancer Nomi Malone fell into her lap, Berkley said it was the right project at the right time, even though she would be transitioning from clean cut Jessie Spano in “Saved by the Bell” to an exotic dancer who had plenty of explicit sex scenes.
“I wasn’t looking for shock value,” argued Berkley. “That wasn’t my intention. When I first read about the role, it was a visceral moment. I thought, ‘that’s mine.'”
She would go on to win the part, but the victory was short lived, as it became difficult for her to find work after the movie failed.
“It was a vulnerable time,” she admitted. “But it made me stronger.”
Having to make a name for herself again, she eventually found work in “First Wives Club” and “The Curse of the Jade Scorpion.” The actress is also currently starring in the reboot of “Saved by the Bell.”
Back in 2015, Berkley had previously spoken about the shaming she endured during a viewing of the film, which is now considered a cult classic.
“It was such a different time when taking risks like that were not embraced,” she recalled as a surprise guest at the event. “They were laughed at, they were shamed publicly, and to be a young girl in the center of that was something that was quite difficult.”
“But I found my own resiliency, and my power and my confidence.”
Watch Berkley’s speech from the event and the fan frenzy in the video above!
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