Every actor has to be prepared for the odd bad review, but “Saved by the Bell” star Elizabeth Berkley wasn’t just told she was terrible in a movie and left to move on. Hollywood was particularly harsh when it came to her role in “Showgirls.” Even though she was just a 22-year-old star trying to move her career along, Berkley was chewed up and spit out — so much so that her agent dropped her and the offers for subsequent work amounted to zero. While one could argue that Berkley still got paid for doing the job, her salary was a paltry $100,000 of the movie’s whopping $40 million budget.
A source told the Los Angeles Times at the time that the failure of the feature wasn’t Berkley’s fault. “[The criticism] all smells kind of foul to me. She’s been getting the blame for this movie and it’s so unfair. She is innocent. Paul Verhoeven … said, ‘Be this way.’”
For his part, Verhoeven also believed that the vitriol surrounding Berkley at the time wasn’t warranted. “I think she did exactly what we wanted and what we thought would be good. And apparently, we failed,” he told the Los Angeles Times. None of the male actors, directors, or writers were lambasted in the same way Berkley was.
Interestingly, Berkley was scouted by multiple agents during the production of the caper … but when the reviews came out, they blanked her.
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