Thirty years after Showgirls detonated her Hollywood trajectory, Elizabeth Berkley is taking the film that almost ended her career on a global victory lap.
At the Los Angeles premiere of Ryan Murphy’s new Hulu series All’s Fair, where Berkley appears alongside Kim Kardashian, Naomi Watts, and Glenn Close, the actress reflected on the cult resurrection of Showgirls. “It’s wild to think that a movie people thought would die on a Blockbuster shelf is now this massive cult classic,” she told Good Morning America.
Released in 1995, Showgirls was Paul Verhoeven’s infamous erotic drama about Nomi Malone — a young woman chasing stardom under the neon haze of Las Vegas. The film tanked on arrival, earning seven Razzies and scathing reviews. For Berkley, who’d broken out as Jessie Spano on Saved by the Bell, it was a professional implosion that kept her out of major studio work for years.
Time, though, has rewritten the narrative. The movie’s garish excess and raw ambition have found new life with a generation unburdened by the moral panic of the ’90s. “I met a group of women from Spain who saw Showgirls at the Academy Museum,” Berkley said. “They didn’t even know about the backlash. They just thought it had always been celebrated.”
For Berkley, that shift feels vindicating. “It was ahead of its time,” she said. “There’s nothing about it that should’ve been rejected.” Filmmakers like Euphoria creator Sam Levinson have since cited Showgirls as a creative influence, and even Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, nods to the film’s enduring image. “It’s in the zeitgeist,” Berkley said. “Of course Taylor’s a showgirl — she embodies it.”
Now starring in All’s Fair, Murphy’s legal drama about female divorce attorneys breaking away from a male-dominated firm, Berkley is surrounded by powerhouses and perspective. “We all brought our A-game,” she said. “It was a supportive, electric environment.”
From Vegas dreams to redemption arcs, Elizabeth Berkley’s back in the spotlight — and this time, the applause is real.
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Last modified: November 12, 2025
