She’s among the final 10 contestants on Season 34 of “Dancing with the Stars.” Could Elaine Hendrix win the coveted Mirrorball Trophy for East Tennessee?
An Oak Ridge-born actress and producer, Hendrix is currently jiving and tangoing her way through ABC’s dancing competition with her pro partner, Alan Bersten. “Dancing with the Stars” airs on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. on ABC and Disney+.
Since launching her professional acting career more than 30 years ago, Hendrix has starred in numerous hit movies and TV shows, including “Get Smart,” the “Dynasty” reboot and the new “Freakier Friday.” But she is perhaps best known for her role as Meredith Blake in the 1998 version of “The Parent Trap” starring Lindsay Lohan.
Hendrix grew up right here in East Tennessee. She was born in Oak Ridge and grew up there and in Morristown.
Hendrix sat down with Knox News to talk about her East Tennessee roots, her experience on “Dancing with the Stars” and more.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Knox News: What was it like to grow up in East Tennessee and now, to be able to represent Oak Ridge?
Elaine Hendrix: I’m so proud to be from East Tennessee. I think it’s such a beautiful part of the country. I know the Smoky Mountains is one of, I think it’s the number one visited park in the entire country, and for very good reason. It’s just so beautiful and I think we’re called the Volunteer State for a reason. I certainly grew up learning to get involved in my community and so I’m very proud.
Does East Tennessee still feel like home to you after being a star for so many years?
Years ago, I would have said yes, but now, I’m on the older side of my life, and I have so much life experience behind me, and I’ve lived and been in so many places. East Tennessee, it’s still so in my bones. It’s just so familiar to me. It’s where I go back to see my family and friends. So it’s sort of a mixed bag.
Tell me a little bit more about how growing up in Oak Ridge and Morristown shaped you into the actress you are today.
I did my very first productions in Morristown, Tennessee. I was very involved in doing school plays. I was Alice in “Alice in Wonderland,” I was Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz,” and I did all kinds of other productions.
I danced. Gail Noe-Kilgore, who was my very first dance teacher, is still in Morristown. She still teaches fitness. She’s incredible! I remember when I was younger, my mom and Gail, they kind of had to bribe me to get into classes. But I’m so glad that they did because I fell in love with it.
All of it really started there for me, but I didn’t know that I could do it professionally. It was just like I was doing it for fun. I was doing it because I loved it.
Did you always know that you wanted to act? What drew you to that space?
Anything that I focused on, I tried to do to the best of my ability. And, dancing was the thing that stuck the most. I did some acting, but it wasn’t until flash forward many years later, when I was dancing and thought I was going to be a professional dancer, and then I was hit by a car, that it was like, oh, OK, so I’m not going to be a professional dancer, and I pivoted to acting.
Tell me how ‘Dancing with the Stars’ came about, and what drove you to say yes to that opportunity?
It’s one of these wonderful combinations of right time, right place, right everything.
I was actually shooting another movie, and I got a call. My agents were like, “OK, you’ve been offered ‘Dancing with the Stars.'” I just looked around and I was like, “Y’all, I’ve just been asked to do ‘Dancing with the Stars!'” It was so surreal.
My immediate answer was yes. Then, I have a small committee (my team, my bestie, Lisa Ann Walter, another one of my besties, Liz Gillies), a few people who I call sometimes to be like, “OK, this is what I’m feeling. What do we think about this?” And everyone was like, yes, yes and yes!
Give us a little bit of insight into what it’s like to work with the incredible Alan Bersten
He is wonderful, and he pushes me in all the right ways. It’s like having a really good trainer who’s like, “Come on, you can do it one more, one more, one more.” when I’m going, “I’m hurting, I’m sore, I can’t do that.” He’s like, yes, you can. He’s giving me every reason to be my best and I’m so grateful for that.
(She did a foxtrot for Dedication Night on Oct. 14 and KnoxNews asked her to give fans a preview prior to that show airing. Her response is below.)
When they said, “Who do you want to dance with and what do you want to dance to?” there’s only one person that I want to do this with: Lisa Ann Walter. And I think there’s only one song that we can really do this to, and that’s “This Will Be an Everlasting Love,” because that just so describes our friendship. It’s a full-circle moment, a celebration of our friendship, how we met and where we met. It’s just the perfect description of our friendship.
Our intention is to really do this for the fans. It’s a celebration of our friendship and it’s also like a love letter to our fans.
What would it mean for you to bring a Mirrorball Trophy home for the East Tennessee community?
I came into this competing against myself. I maintain that because, to me, I’m using this opportunity to see just what I can do. At the same time, the further I go, the more I go, “Can I do this? Could that actually happen? Could I win?” Whatever happens, it’s going to be incredible, but I am more determined now.
I want to do it for myself. I want to do it for Alan. I want to do it for the fans. I want to do it for that 21-year-old inside me who had to give up her dreams so long ago. It’s just taking on more meaning than I could have possibly imagined.
If there was one message that you would want to tell your fans of the show, what would you tell them?
Just because your dreams aren’t unfolding the way you thought they were doesn’t mean they’re not happening. My greatest goal, the greatest gift I could both give and receive from this is the inspiration to believe in yourself, but not in that you see it written on a plaque way. In a very real, tangible way, because I am literally walking proof of it.
The other thing I would just say to them is thank you so much. I really credit fans for helping me be here, to help me get here. I don’t take any of it for granted, not one moment.
Allison Kiehl covers trending and breaking news from Knoxville for the Tennessee Connect Team. Email: [email protected]
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Elaine Hendrix’s hometown: Oak Ridge actress’ journey to DWTS
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