Gina Gershon has finally revealed why she turned down a role in Friday the 13th Part 2.
In a new interview with Fox News Digital, the 63-year-old actress shared that she walked away from the role in the 1981 horror film over an “exploitative” topless scene.
“I was offered a lead in that movie,” she recalled. “And, of course, I was so excited to act in movies, but it definitely felt kind of exploitative to me and a little silly that right before she gets killed, her top has to come off.”
She further said, “I was really lucky that I had a father who really taught me how to believe in my own decisions. It wasn’t like I had to rebel against my family. I remember asking him about it, thinking he was going to say, ‘No daughter of mine is going to do that!’ And he said, ‘It’s your body. If you’re comfortable with it, I’m comfortable with it.’”
“When I sat and thought about it, I just thought, ‘I don’t really want to do this,’” she said. “I wasn’t comfortable with it. It seemed silly to me. Not that I had anything against nudity — I grew up on European films — but only if it makes sense for the character and the story. But when it just seems silly, I don’t know. It just felt like it was something that wasn’t for me,” added the Showgirls actress.
Gina also opened up about rejecting the role in her tell-all book, AlphaPussy: How I Survived the Valley and Learned to Love My Boobs.
“At the time, those kinds of slasher movies always had girls dying with their breasts exposed. My character would be killed by a stake through the heart, blood dripping down her t-ts. That seemed pretty lame to me: exploitation 101,” she penned.