If I had directed the majestic motion picture that is Showgirls, I would be stepping up to claim credit, not to apologize. But director Paul Verhoeven has a different take on the matter, which her recently discussed with People magazine. Here are some of his thoughts on the film:
On Charlize Theron almost being cast as the lead:
"She was good and wanted the part, but basically she was not well known enough at the time and just did not fit the part, so we said no. I have full respect for Charlize, but if she had been offered the part then she would probably have been chewed up in the same way they treated Elizabeth [Berkley]. She was very lucky that she did not get the part."
On Elizabeth Berkley becoming an outcast in Hollywood:
"It was all my fault. Showgirls certainly ruined the career of Elizabeth Berkley in a major way. It made my life more difficult, but not to the degree it did Elizabeth's. Hollywood turned their backs on her. If somebody has to be blamed, it should be me because I thought that it was interesting to portray somebody like that."
On Elizabeth Berkley's (bad?) acting in the film:
"I asked Elizabeth to do all that – to be abrupt and to act in that way, but people have been attacking her about that ever since. In retrospect, Elizabeth may have regretted being so heavily involved with the movie and being so vulnerable to her critics, but when we did it we never had the feeling that this would happen. Hollywood was pissed off with her because she went further than any actress has gone or will go and I think they have never forgiven her. Her performance pushed the limits and that worried them. They were just so shocked by the movie that they hated her. Elizabeth could only have recovered from the movie by being offered a very different role, but that just didn't happen for her, otherwise she would have taken the job. New roles were never offered, so it was impossible for her to make a comeback."
Duh, Hollywood. Showgirls was Oscar-worthy. Long Live Nomi Malone!
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