Not all major lead roles are meant to be, especially for Gina Gershon, who would have made her film debut in one of Hollywood’s biggest horror franchises. Looking back on the start of her career, she turned down Friday the 13th Part 2 due to a topless scene she found “silly.”
By the ’80s, slasher horror was on the rise, and big box office hits like Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, and killers like Jason Voorhees. WhileJamie Lee Curtis cemented herself as the scream queen, Gershon was also given the chance at horror icon status but rejected the offer.
The Showgirls star told Fox News Digital that she was offered the lead in the second installment of Friday the 13th, “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.”
Slasher horror or horror in general isn’t scared to show some nudity or love-making scenes before the killer rips them apart. While it was common during the time, Gershon felt it wasn’t worth it for her character.
“At the time, those kinds of slasher movies always had girls dying with their breasts exposed,” she wrote in her memoir AlphaPussy: How I Survived the Valley and Learned to Love My Boobs. “My character would be killed by a stake through the heart, blood dripping down her t—. That seemed pretty lame to me: exploitation 101.”
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Gershon added that she had nothing against nudity and even “grew up on European films.” In the end, the actor simply wasn’t comfortable at the time and felt nudity was only acceptable, “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.”
For the actor, she had to trust her gut feeling and even asked her father what he thought about the matter. Instead of lashing out, saying she couldn’t do a nude scene, he simply said it was her choice and her body. Looking at Friday the 13th Part 2, the role Gershon rejected likely went to actor Kirsten Baker.
Gershon would ultimately still make her big-screen debut as a dancer in Beatlemania: The Movie. She later appeared in Pretty in Pink and got recognition for her roles in Sweet Revenge, Red Heat, and Cocktail. Her biggest career hits were the 1995 movie Showgirls and Bound.
This story was originally published by Parade on Mar 30, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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