Baywatch Stigma: Stars Discuss Struggles Being Taken Seriously After Show

Baywatch holds a massive legacy. Even if someone didn’t watch the show in the ’90s when it aired, they still know what it is. However, for a few of the show’s stars, this recognition proved to be a double-edged sword after their time on the beaches of California ended.

ABC News Studios’ docuseries, After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun, explores the show’s humble beginnings, eventual popularity, and the complexities concerning body image and race. It also probes into the impact it had on the lives of the actors themselves.

Erika Eleniak, who starred as Shauni McClain in the show’s first couple of seasons, and Kelly Packard, who played April Giminski for two later seasons, opened up about their struggles to be taken seriously when they began searching for other jobs.

“I grappled with taking it off my resume,” Packard expressed in the documentary. “It really stinks now because I’m this woman who’s trying to act still, but I can’t be taken seriously because I was a ‘Baywatch’ baby.”

Eleniak also shared her experience. “When Baywatch happened, I had to fight really hard for the opportunities to get in rooms,” she said. “Sometimes I’d get in a room and it would actually go really well, and it would be a lot of auditions and then it would be between one other person and myself. And there was one person in the camp that was afraid of the Baywatch credit, so I wouldn’t get the role.”

She recounted a similar experience that occurred ten years after Baywatch. “I was up for a television series and it was a huge audition process,” she added. “It came down to me and another young lady, and someone on one of the camps was afraid of Baywatch, and out I went. So it never ended. It’s always been a fight for diversity to be able to get those strong female leads. By the grace of God, I feel I was given some great opportunities, but it wasn’t easy.”

In the docuseries, Eleniak also expressed her feelings of self-doubt after being on the show, which she believes influenced her subsequent choices. “When I left Baywatch, I wanted a film career. Some incredible opportunities I had, I blew them; self-sabotage because I was so scared,” she revealed, even claiming she passed on an opportunity to read for Sharon Stone’s role in Casino. “What I did was burn so many bridges, major bridges, because nobody understood why I wasn’t going. I was terrified. I didn’t feel good enough.”

On the flip side, Alexandra Paul, who played Stephanie Holden, had a different experience. “I do feel like it gave my career longevity. I had been working for 10 years in feature films and television movies … Baywatch was the first series,” she told TooFab. “Back then, there was definitely a fear that you would stay in TV. The thing was, I loved doing TV, and I didn’t realize I loved doing television series. It was a joy to be able to go to work every day, see the same cast, play the same character, develop her more.”

“And so I did a couple more series afterward, and I think Baywatch actually opened up my career for me,” she added. “I’m sure there were times when people said, ‘Oh, she was on Baywatch, forget her.’ But, as Erika knows, I tend to be a little bit of an optimist. I feel like it gave me a lot of opportunities.”

After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun is streaming now on Hulu.

Source: Particlenews