Here’s Elizabeth Berkley Reminiscing About How Awful ‘Showgirls’ Was

If you've ever seen Showgirls, which was about an aspiring Las Vegas showgirl who gets naked and writhes around all over the place—including in the vicinity of Gina Gershon and on top of Kyle MacLachlan—then you know damn well why the film's star, Elizabeth Berkley, a.k.a. Jessie Spano of Saved by the Bell, stopped dancing after that. The only thing worse than the film was Berkley's acting. And the only thing worse than her acting was her dancing.

For that reason, we couldn't help but laugh when Variety asked her why she stopped dancing after that movie. It was like they were really asking, 'So, Shorwgirls really blew, what's up with that?'

Well, as it turns out, Berkley gave a shockingly honest answer—i.e., the one we all knew to be true. Behold:

It was a bit of a difficult time for me personally, because a lot of doors were shut at that time. I had to find my strength and my confidence and go back out there again. I think that because it was so criticized, it was humiliating– doing anything that was connected to the film was not fun. So I think being able to find a relationship to my dancing, which something I loved, has been healing.

Of course, Berley was a little less honest with herself on her answer to the follow-up question:

No, regret is not a word that I connect to in my life. I truly believe that everything we walk through and go through is a lesson. Was it difficult and did it hurt? Yes. I became more discerning about my choices and wanted to feel safe again. I had to open those doors back up myself. Luckily, Sherry Lansing was a mentor to me around that time, and First Wives Club was the first big thing I got after that.

Isn't that cute? She thought First Wives Club was a big role!

Anyway, if you'd like to see Berkley on DWTS, you still can, because she hasn't been kicked off yet. And last week she did a dance tribute to Saved by the Bell, so you have to figure this week she's going to do Showgirls, right?

Okay, probably not. But in case you want to watch anyway, it's on ABC tonight.