Gina Gershon (63) Shares Shocking Reason She Turned Down ‘Friday the 13th’ Role
Gina Gershon is a famous actress now, but she recently shared a story about a huge movie role she turned down at the very start of her career.
The Showgirls star told Fox News Digital that she was offered a lead part in the 1981 horror movie Friday the 13th Part 2. Even though she was new to the business and excited to work, she decided to say no because of one specific scene.
In her new book called AlphaPussy: How I Survived the Valley and Learned to Love My Boobs, Gershon explains that the movie wanted her character to be topless during her death scene. She felt this didn’t make any sense for the story. She wrote, At the time, those kinds of slasher movies always had girls dying with their breasts exposed. My character would be killed by a stake through the heart, blood dripping down her t—. That seemed pretty lame to me: exploitation 101.
Gershon told the outlet that she wasn’t necessarily against being nude on camera, but it had to feel right. She said, I was offered a lead in that movie. And, of course, I was so excited to act in movies, but it definitely felt kind of exploitative to me and a little silly that right before she gets killed, her top has to come off. To help make her choice, she asked her father for his opinion. She expected him to be angry, but instead, he told her it was her body and her choice.
After thinking it over, she realized the role just wasn’t for her. She shared, When I sat and thought about it, I just thought, ‘I don’t really want to do this. I wasn’t comfortable with it. It seemed silly to me.’ Not that I had anything against nudity — I grew up on European films — but only if it makes sense for the character and the story. Instead of the horror movie, she made her debut as a dancer in a film called Beatlemania: The Movie that same year.
Later in her career, Gershon did take roles that involved nudity, such as her famous part in Showgirls. While she used to have doubts about some of the darker scenes in that movie, she recently said on a radio show that she now understands why they were included. She explained that those scenes show the ugly side of power and money. She said, It is really a comment on like ugly America, and on capitalism and power struggles and dynamics and all those things, that of course that rape scene has to be there.
I think it is impressive that Gina Gershon had the courage to say no to a major franchise when she was just starting out. Many young actors feel like they have to say yes to everything just to get their foot in the door. It shows that trusting your gut feeling is usually the best move, even if it means walking away from a big paycheck or a famous series.
What do you think about actors turning down roles because of nudity?
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