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Gina Gershon says that she was left with PTSD over her role in the infamous stripper drama, Showgirls.
Reflecting on her role in the camp classic, Gershon, 63, said that she was so traumatized that she couldn't even watch the film after its 1995 release due to all the backlash that it received.
'You know, I couldn't watch it for years because I was like... a little bit of PTSD, I think, in a very slight way,' she revealed on The Julia Cunningham Show.
'No disrespect to real PTSD, but I would get very tense and anxious when I thought about certain things and stories and so I never really watched it again.'
Gershon then said that she begged director Paul Verhoeven to remove a brutal rape scene from the movie, which sees the character Molly gang-raped at a party.
'I remember when I saw that rape scene, I'm like, "Are you insane? You have to take this scene out!" I was so offended by it,' she said.
Gina Gershon says that she was left with PTSD over her role in the infamous stripper drama, Showgirls
The actress played Las Vegas dancer Cristal Connors in the controversial camp classic
However, Gershon said that she's now become more comfortable with the film over time.
'When I saw it from afar, it's really a comment on ugly America and on capitalism and on power struggles and dynamics and all those things,' she explained.
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'Of course that rape scene has to be there. It's the grossest thing in there, and the powerful men, they're all protected. So that's why it's exciting when [Elizabeth Berkley's character Nomi] kicks the guy's a**.'
However, Gershon did admit that when she signed on for Showgirls, she thought it would be closer to Verhoeven's Dutch films, which have a 'darker', European style to them compared to his American filmography, which includes movies like Basic Instinct, RoboCop, Total Recall, and Starship Troopers.
'I think his American films, now that I've studied it and stepped out of it, they're really interesting comments on America and fascism,' she reflected.
Showgirls was released in 1995 to widespread condemnation from critics and a dismal performance at the box office due to its severe NC-17 rating.
However, the tawdry drama has not only gained a cult following over the last three decades, it's also been critically reappraised, with many now calling it a misunderstood masterpiece and satire of American culture and show business.
Showgirls follows Nomi Malone (played by Berkley), an ambitious dancer with a sketchy past who goes to Las Vegas to make a name for herself.
