Bridgette Wilson-Sampras was once a regular fixture on our screens, but her acting career
has dwindled over the past decade. Join us as we explore why she stepped back from Hollywood,
despite being a major sensation.
Born Bridgette Wilson and raised in a small town in coastal Oregon, she competed in the
Miss Teen USA pageant at age 16. Wilson won the contest, and became only the second-ever
girl from Oregon to hold the title. In a post-win interview, Wilson told reporters that she
hoped to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, and credited her family with helping
her win the title. She told the Associated Press,
"I went in and I was going to give it my best shot, and whatever my best was, I was going
to hope for the best...There are 51 beautiful girls here. I'm a sincere person, and I believe
in myself, and having my family here was a help."
Bridgette Wilson-Sampras quickly secured a small role in Saved by the Bell, and her popularity
grew throughout the early '90s. After an appearance in the Arnold Schwarzenegger-led blockbuster
Last Action Hero, Wilson-Sampras was cast as Adam Sandler's love interest in the movie
Billy Madison. The role she's best known for almost didn't happen due to her work with
Sandler, but a twist of fate would make sure that audiences always thought of Wilson-Sampras
when they thought of Sonya Blade.
"It's an honor to finally meet you, Sonya."
Though it was critically panned, the Mortal Kombat movie was a big deal for the actors
starring in it. Wilson-Sampras initially lost out on the role of Sonya Blade to a then-unknown
Cameron Diaz. As Wilson-Sampras told The Hollywood Reporter,
"I went back and auditioned and met with them so many times. Probably seven. I kept going
back and going back."
The decision was taken out of Wilson-Sampras' hands when she was cast in Billy Madison.
Plus, the producers had been wowed by Diaz in The Mask. Diaz trained to play Sonya Blade
while Wilson-Sampras shot her film with Adam Sandler. A producer on Mortal Kombat told
The Hollywood Reporter,
"As soon as we saw the dailies from The Mask, there was no question that [Cameron Diaz]
was a star. We put her into training, because she had not really done this kind of martial
arts work before. She broke her wrist right before shooting to the point where she couldn't
do the martial arts stunts we needed."
With that stroke of Diaz's bad luck, Wilson-Sampras finally ended up landing the part of Sonya
Blade. While other cast members had months to train for the film, Wilson-Sampras had
to work on her fighting on-set in Thailand. She also had a health scare after arriving
on set, and told The Hollywood Reporter,
"In the very beginning, I dislocated my shoulder. I did a partial dislocation, but it was weird
because I was totally fine...They popped it back in and we kept going. It was all good."
Some people might expect tales of diva behavior from a former pageant queen who no longer
works in Hollywood, but all signs point toward Bridgette Wilson-Sampras being a trooper on
the set of Mortal Kombat. The actress told The Hollywood Reporter,
"I did all of my own stunts and all my own fighting, which was awesome. I didn't have
as long to prepare as everyone else did because they were able to work with the trainers for
a few weeks prior to the filming."
After Mortal Kombat and Billy Madison, the roles came fast for Wilson-Sampras. The horror
flick I Know What You Did Last Summer kept her busy, and she closed out the '90s with
a few minor parts before starring in the remake of House On Haunted Hill. Her last major role
came in 2001, when she appeared opposite Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey in the romantic
comedy The Wedding Planner. During this time, she was also dating tennis superstar Pete
Sampras, who would change the course of her life.
"I think you know what I'm talking about."
The actress married 14-time Grand Slam winner Pete Sampras in 2000. The pair met by chance
after Sampras spotted her at a Los Angeles movie theater. He explained to InStyle Magazine,
"I said to my friend, half-kidding, 'I'd love to meet her.'"
The friend introduced the couple and the rest is history. The pair dated for nine months
before Sampras proposed at his Los Angeles home. Sixteen weeks later, they held their
wedding in the backyard. Sampras rented a massive tent to cover his private tennis court,
and turned it into a reception hall. InStyle reported that even Elton John dropped by the
ceremony to play a surprise 45-minute set. Wilson-Sampras told the publication,
"That's one of my most vivid memories of the wedding."
Sampras also revealed to InStyle that he was ready to step out of the spotlight with his
new wife and said,
"When you win matches, it's a short-lived high...This was something I was committing
to for life. Tennis will one day stop, but I'll always have Bridgette. That's the biggest
reward of all."
The Sampras' marriage has endured for two decades. Since that ceremony in their home,
the couple went on to have two sons. Christian Sampras was born in 2002, and Ryan Sampras
followed in 2005. Meanwhile, Pete retired from professional tennis in 2002 after besting
his career-long rival Andre Agassi in the finals of that year's U.S. Open.
Bridgette Wilson-Sampras continued to act sparingly in the years after her sons were
born, but interviews from around the time of her final film made it clear that she was
ready to live a quieter life outside of Hollywood. She told Pregnancy magazine,
"For now, I want to be there when [the boys] wake up and I want to be there to put them
in bed."
Wilson-Sampras didn't enjoy being apart from her children, and she shared that feeling
with the magazine. She explained,
"It was very hard for me to leave my kids. It was just devastating to have to get a babysitter
that wasn't family. We went through some nightmare experiences with babysitters, but when you
find that right person, to still be willing to go out to dinner and not lose your relationship
with your husband…that was work for me. I was like, 'I love you and all, honey, but
I'm busy. I got my babies!'"
While she's almost certainly gotten better about separation in the decade since, Wilson-Sampras
has not yet returned to acting.
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