Gina Gershon was 'traumatized' by racy role in Showgirls and begged the director to remove one shocking scene

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.

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.

'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.

She starts out dancing in a sleazy strip club, but eventually lands herself a role in a glitzy topless cabaret show headlined by the glamorous Cristal Connors. 

Malone and Connors soon become frenemies, with the pair playing a seductive game of cat and mouse while Malone's star rises.

The film exposes the seedy underbelly of the entertainment industry, including prostitution, drug use, and abuse.

Berkley's over-the-top performance made her a laughing stock with both critics and audiences after the film's initial release, but she has now embraced it and regularly attends Showgirls screenings with diehard fans. 

Last year, she even launched a full-scale tour to celebrate the film's 30th anniversary.

The former Saved By The Bell star has regained her acting credibility in recent years, with roles in Cobra Kai, All's Fair, and the film Shell.

Meanwhile Gershon came out of Showgirls relatively unscathed, largely thanks to the success of 1996's Bound and 1997's Face/Off.

More recently, she's starred in Riverdale, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and House of Versace.