Thirty years after "Saved by the Bell," audiences are falling in love with Elizabeth
Berkley’s character, Jessie, all over again – partly thanks to the "Bell" reboot. But
fans don’t know everything about the blonde beauty, like which castmate she actually
dated in real life. Here are some other things about Elizabeth Berkley that might surprise you.
Although we can't imagine her playing anyone other than Jessie Spano,
Elizabeth Berkley originally auditioned for the role of Kelly Kapowski in "Saved by the Bell."
In executive producer Peter Engel's memoir, "I Was Saved by the Bell," he dished on the
casting process, saying that the part of Kelly was narrowed down to three then-up-and-coming
starlets—Berkley, Tiffani Thiessen and Jennie Garth. The showrunner also revealed that an NBC
exec petitioned for Berkley, which resulted in the role of Jessie being designed specifically
for her. In an interview with Variety, she named that exec as Brandon Tartikoff and said,
"I'm grateful he saw something in me and gave me my shot.”
In an interview with Vogue, Berkley gushed about the power of the outspoken
and progressive character she played in an era that wasn't as forward-thinking, saying,
"You had a 15-year-old girl using her voice as an activist, feminist, and someone who advocates
for others ... That wasn't something you'd see on television at that time."
For "Saved by the Bell" fans, there is an episode that will live on in
infamy—and it's centered around Elizabeth Berkley's character.
The episode, which aired in 1990, deals with the overachieving character getting addicted
to caffeine pills. Aptly named "Jessie's Song," there's a scene where Jessie has a major meltdown.
"I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so scared!"
In an interview with Today, Berkley revealed that it's her favorite episode. One of the reasons is
the fact that she got to act it out with her close friend and castmate Mark-Paul Gosselaar. She said,
"It was fun for us, as a change, to go a little bit deeper on the show."
Berkley also dished to Today about what it was like to film its infamous meltdown scene,
which took on a life of its own in popular culture, becoming fodder for countless memes,
gifs, mugs, and t-shirts. She said fans frequently
belt out the song to her and that she has even posted the clip on Instagram.
In "Saved by the Bell," Elizabeth Berkley was pretty much typecast as a goody-goody.
That all changed when she took her first major role after the show wrapped—in
the NC-17-rated film "Showgirls," in which she played a Las Vegas stripper.
At the time, the actress was just 22, and appeared in multiple scenes in the nude.
Unfortunately, the film didn't fare well at the box office,
and neither did Berkley with critics commenting on her poor performance,
something which, to this day, she finds hard to comprehend. She told People,
"I didn't understand why I was being blamed. The job as an actor is to
fulfill the vision of the director. And I did everything I was supposed to do."
As the movie was about to celebrate its 20th anniversary, Berkley reflected on her painful
experience to Us Weekly, but said that through the hardship, she learned to be resilient.
Now, the veteran actress has moved on from feeling shame for that role, so much so that she revisited
it in the "Saved by the Bell" reboot. In the scene, Jessie dons the same outfit her "Showgirls"
character wore and proceeds to do a pole dance and utter one of her quotes from the film.
Although Jessie was romantically linked to Mario Lopez's Slater,
Elizabeth Berkley dated Mark-Paul Gosselaar, who played Zack, in real life.
"Slater and I feel that being stuck in
a monogamous relationship is restrictive and possessive."
On "Anna Faris Is Unqualified," Gosselaar, who played Bayside's resident prankster,
revealed that he had a relationship with the then-starlet. He said,
"When you're working on a set, and we were young,
there's no one around, really. You work and live in a bubble."
The actor explained that the cast became more than friends due to the fact that there weren't
many dating options, since they were on set so often and not attending school. He told People,
"All of us dated at one point or another—it was incestuous!"
The tight-knit cast has definitely put their old feelings behind them,
and now even socialize together with their spouses.
With the "Saved by the Bell" reboot underway, Berkley has reunited with
both of her male costars—the actor she dated on-screen and the other she courted when the
cameras weren't rolling. Even after all this time has passed, her fondness for the Bayside
boys was made apparent by the Instagram photo she posted with them, captioning it,
#friendsforever, a nod to the song of the same name that was featured on the original show.
Jessie and Slater are an iconic couple, not just on "Saved by the Bell," but in the zeitgeist
of the '90s. Their electric on-screen chemistry has withstood the test of time,
and now, over 30 years later, they're just as compatible. In the "SBTB" reboot,
their characters are back at Bayside, this time as part of the faculty. And as for a romantic
reunion for one of TV's most adored high school sweethearts, Berkley is definitely shipping
#SlaterSpano. So will there be a round two for the couple? She exclaimed in an EW interview.
"How can there not be?!"
Her close relationship with Mario Lopez is apparent in the Instagram photos she posts
of them embracing. As for working together again after all this time,
she told Parade about a surreal on-set moment.
"I used to look across that booth at this young boy, and I'm now looking
at a man who's a father and a dear friend with a lot of history there."
The pair is just as tight as they used to be, and even still use their old nicknames for each other.
On "The Ellen Show," they revealed that they've called each other "Dud"
since they were 15, and Berkley's son even refers to Lopez by that moniker.
Berkley reminisced about how the name came about, saying,
"I made a collage with pictures of us and I got cartons of Milk Duds and cut out the word 'dud.'"
From a young age, Elizabeth Berkley developed her lifelong love for dance. She began tapping
at the age of four and by 12, she was enrolled in jazz and ballet lessons as well. She told Vogue,
"It's my salvation ... Still part of my life force and my most sacred place,"
She probably could have never imagined that as an adult, dance would play a pivotal role
in her personal life. The veteran performer actually met her husband—fashion designer,
actor and artist Greg Lauren—in a dance class in 2000. The pair made eye contact through the
studio mirror, had dinner with their classmates that night, and then, just over a week later,
went on a date—and the rest is history. The lovebirds married on the beach in Cabo San Lucas,
Mexico in 2003 and welcomed their son, Sky Cole Lauren in 2012, when Berkley was 40.
Lauren revealed to Us Weekly that Jessie Spano was his childhood crush,
and when people discover who his wife is, they are quite envious. He said,
"They either hit me or push or they don't even talk to me anymore. I got Jessie, sorry Slater!"
Now together for over two decades, the couple's date nights are filled with sushi and meditation,
which they told the magazine is fitting, being that they're based in LA.
In 2013, Elizabeth Berkley joined "Dancing with the Stars," and was partnered with pro
Val Chmerkovskiy. The experienced dancer felt like she had the rug
pulled out from under her when she was sent home right before the semifinals.
She spoke to GMA about the moment she heard the surprising announcement.
"We had just hit this really beautiful rhythm and we were getting great, great scores as you said,
so I was a little surprised, sad."
Berkley wasn't the only one who felt that way, and her seemingly premature elimination
goes down in the show's history as one of the most shocking. Fans also shared the sentiment,
and took to Twitter to express their discontent with the results.
When it came to her dance numbers, it was only fitting that she did a routine to
"I'm So Excited," paying homage to her favorite "Saved by the Bell" episode. The video of the
dance, which definitely brought a dose of nostalgia to all the fans cheering on at home,
wound up going viral. In response to the overwhelming reception, Berkley told Variety,
"I'm thrilled it was embraced by the fans the way it has been. We did it for them."
It was because of her devoted legion of fans that Elizabeth Berkley ultimately
launched an advice column. She explained to the Los Angeles Times,
"I'd be with my husband walking in SoHo or in a mall and girls would come up
for an autograph or a picture, and I really enjoyed engaging with them."
After her husband witnessed all these conversations, he suggested that his wife start
an advice column, and the now-defunct website "Ask Elizabeth" was born. The resource focused on
topics that girls aged 11 to 18 deal with, such as body image, self-esteem, friendship, and dating.
The column grew into a nonprofit organization and a book, which landed a spot on the New York Times
Best Seller list. It also blossomed into a lecture series, where the actress-turned-self-help-guru
spoke to middle school students around the country. She told Vogue,
"For me, it's about providing them with a safe space to deal with all
they're navigating and passing the mic to them."
For Berkley, art now imitates life, because in the "Saved by the Bell" reboot,
Jessie is a bestselling author and guidance counselor at Bayside.
At 13, Elizabeth Berkley scored a contract with Elite Model Management based in New York City.
She even placed as a finalist at the agency's "Look of the Year" competition,
an annual contest that launched the careers of models like Cindy Crawford and Helena Christensen.
While she was strutting on runways, Berkley was still nabbing acting roles,
and ultimately traded in posing for photoshoots for running lines on TV and movie sets. Berkley
seems to be quite content with the trajectory of her career, which was made apparent when
she posted a throwback modeling shot with the caption "#wouldntwantadifferentstory."
One aspect of her former modeling gigs—being immersed in the world of high-end fashion—was
reintroduced to Berkley later in life. As fate would have it, she happened to marry into fashion
royalty. Her husband, Greg Lauren, is the nephew of famed designer Ralph Lauren. She told Vogue,
“I think I've learned so much about style just by being a part of this amazing creative family."
Her other half is also in the industry, and has actually created some of the
clothing that his wife wore in the "Saved by the Bell" reboot.
Like her multitasking costar Mario Lopez, Elizabeth Berkley also added the title of
host to her resume. In 2008, she was asked to be at the helm when Bravo launched
"Step It Up & Dance." The reality show showcased young professional dancers from around the country
who performed different routines for prize money. On the short-lived series that only
lasted a season, Berkley lended moral support to the contestants.
And although the "Showgirls" alum gave up dancing after the film due
to the harsh criticism she received, she got back on the saddle with this gig,
as well as her stint on "Dancing with the Stars." She told Variety,
"I had to find my strength and my confidence and go back out there again.
"I think that because it was so criticized,
it was humiliating—doing anything that was connected to the film was not fun."
In the late '90s, Elizabeth Berkley was dating actor Roger Wilson,
known for starring in the "Porky's" movies and being the ex-boyfriend of supermodel Christy
Turlington. In 1998, he sued Leonardo DiCaprio and his friends for a staggering $45 million
for an incident connected to the actress. The suit detailed that DiCaprio, whose
stardom had just skyrocketed with the release of "Titanic," hit on Berkley after meeting her
at a New York party following the premiere of his film, "The Man in the Iron Mask."
According to the account, DiCaprio's publicist approached Berkley asking her to join the actor
and his group at a restaurant, but she promptly turned the invitation down,
saying she was taken by Wilson. The next day, DiCaprio and his friend left Berkley voicemails,
asking her to party with them, which she ignored.
Two days later, a scorned Wilson confronted DiCaprio and his pals outside the now-shuttered
celebrity hotspot Asia de Cuba in Manhattan. According to the claim, DiCaprio encouraged his
friends to attack him. As a result, Wilson was punched in the throat, which broke his larynx,
putting an end to his career. However, the charges were eventually dropped.
A year after her devastating experience with the negative reception of "Showgirls," Elizabeth
Berkley starred in "The First Wives Club." The actress credits the 1996 comedy with giving
her the confidence she lacked after Hollywood shunned her. And a lot of that was due to the
guidance she received from her costar, Goldie Hawn. In the film, Berkley played the young
girlfriend to Hawn's character's ex-husband, and the two became close. She told the BBC,
"Goldie especially took me under her wing and was really supportive.”
Almost two decades after it premiered, Berkley is still grateful for the movie and for the
opportunity to work with the "Overboard" actress. In 2015, she posted an Instagram photo of her
and Hawn on set, stating she was like an angel to her and saying that she was forever grateful.
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