Elizabeth Berkley thought she’d win Oscar for ‘Showgirls’ flop

Best in “Show”?

On Wednesday, Elizabeth Berkley, 49, attended a “Showgirls” screening at the Academy Museum’s David Geffen Theater in LA, where a crowd of 1,200 gave her a standing ovation at the sold-out event. 

Addressing the audience, she said that after she got cast in the 1995 movie, she asked her agent if there was a chance she might be nominated for an Oscar for the part.

“Every girl in Hollywood had fought for this role,” she said. “So it was not a strange thing to ask.”

“So tonight I’d like to thank the Academy … Museum,” Berkley quipped.

“Showgirls” was a critical and commercial flop. A box office bomb, it made around $37 million against a $45 million budget. 

The movie follows a mysterious young drifter, Nomi Malone (Berkley), who begins working as a strip club dancer in Las Vegas and tries to ascend to the top of the world of Vegas showgirls. 

She makes friends with Molly (Gina Ravera), who works at a hotel, and Cristal (Gina Gershon), a dancer who shows her the ropes, and gets a boyfriend, Zack (Kyle MacLachlan). 

Legendary late film critic Roger Ebert gave the film two stars and called it a “sleazefest” and “a slick, expensive soap opera.” He called the plot and screenplay “juvenile,” although he did praise Berkley’s performance, noting that the “Saved by the Bell” star brought “a fierce energy that’s always interesting.” 

Nevertheless, the movie didn’t help Berkley’s career.

In 2020, she told People, “Of course it was disappointing that it didn’t do well, but there was so much cruelty around it. 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.”

She added that after the film tanked, “I was left out in the cold and I was a pariah in the industry I had worked so hard for.”

During the screening on Wednesday, Berkley told the crowd that the project “really pushed the boundaries at that time that now have been embraced — not misunderstood, but truly embraced.”

She gushed: “And I’m so grateful that the film has found its way not only in your hearts but especially the LGBTQ community.” 

Tearfully, she added, “You stood by the film. You always believed, as did I, and for that I’m eternally grateful.”