9 Actors Whose Big Break Movies Almost Ruined Their Careers

2. Elizabeth Berkley - Showgirls

Elizabeth Berkley was the archetypal anti-typecast actor when she went from Saved By The Bell to Showgirls with barely a pause. It was shocking at the time, but nowhere near as shocking as how bad Paul Verhoeven's erotically charged thriller turned out to be.

It was a camp mess, full of terrifyingly bad performances, a vapid script and the most astonishingly bad sex scenes in the history of films. Yes, Berkley cast off her past as Jessie Spano, but it came at the cost of 11 Razzie nominations and the surrendering of her status as a legitimate lead actor.

Did She Survive It?

Aside from a few appearances in movies you might have heard of, Showgirls is still Berkley's most notable role, which is telling. She was dropped by her agent after the film was released, but she struggled on, still working consistently until 2003 and sporadically since.

Paul Verhoeven rather charitably blames himself:

"She did exactly what we wanted and what we thought would be good. And apparently we failed," the director said. "I never accounted that she would be put in such a bad position and I feel terrible about it."