Beverly Hills, 90210 Actress Reveals How a Filming Incident Left Her Injured

Gabrielle Carteris, widely recognized for her role as Andrea Zuckerman on the iconic teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210, recently reflected on a harrowing chapter of her career that fundamentally altered the course of her life.

During a candid appearance on the February 23 episode of the Still Here Hollywood podcast with Steve Kmetko, the 65-year-old actress detailed a traumatic on-set injury she sustained during the filming of a project in Canada in the early 2000s.

Carteris recalled a scene where she was the female lead, and a much larger guest actor was meant to play a home intruder. She described the actor as a really big guy standing about 6’6”, who was extremely hyped up for the sequence.

Despite her requests for him to stop touching her neck during rehearsals, he allegedly lifted her repeatedly, leading to a severe physical trauma that didn’t immediately reveal its full extent.

The symptoms emerged over the next several days, starting with a loss of sensation in her face and intense headaches. Carteris described a chilling moment in the mirror where she realized her face had become completely disfigured and totally transformed, and I looked like The Joker.

This condition, a form of facial palsy accompanied by bodily convulsions, forced her to fly home to Los Angeles for urgent medical care. The journey home was particularly painful for the actress, who felt very humbled and embarrassed as strangers stared at her in the airport.

She noted that she couldn’t talk and felt that her body was entirely out of control during this period. The recovery process was grueling, taking several years of intensive speech and movement therapy at the UCLA Movement Center to regain her ability to communicate and move normally.

Determined to seek justice, Carteris engaged in a legal battle that lasted nearly a decade. She eventually won the lawsuit, which she credits with helping to change some laws in Canada regarding performer safety. Most significantly, this ordeal served as the catalyst for her transition into labor advocacy.

She channeled her pain into service, eventually serving as the president of SAG-AFTRA for five years, a role she describes as her way of paying it forward. Today, Carteris remains a staunch advocate for actor rights and safety, currently serving as the president of the International Federation of Actors (FIA).

She continues to be a familiar face at industry events and fan conventions, recently appearing at the FACTS convention in Ghent alongside her former co-star Jason Priestley. She has also remained close with her 90210 castmates, frequently reuniting with friends like Jennie Garth and reflecting on the incredible joy of their shared legacy.

While her leadership roles have taken center stage in recent years, Carteris has not entirely stepped away from the screen. Fans recently saw her in the HBO miniseries We Own This City and the action-drama 9-1-1.

Looking forward, she is expected to continue her work in voice acting and documentary projects while maintaining her influential voice in the ongoing discussions surrounding AI and performer protections in Hollywood.

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