Carmen Electra was “constantly” pushed to do her own stunt work on ‘Baywatch’.
Carmen Electra was ‘constantly’ pushed to do her own stunt work on ‘Baywatch’
The 52-year-old actress, born Tara Leigh Patrick, kicked off her career with glamour modelling in 1996, including appearances in Playboy magazine, before she landed her breakthrough role as Lani McKenzie on the lifeguard show.
She has now told People on the 35th anniversary of the hit series about how its producers and directors wanted her and other cast members to push themselves to their limits when she signed up for its eighth season: “Our producer and directors wanted us to do as much of our own stunts as we possibly could.
“They were constantly pushing for that because I think that was something people complained about in the past.
“So, when our new cast came about, we were a part of the rookie school class that has to learn everything from the beginning.
“So we were running and running and running. And we had to do all the jumping over water, diving into it, the swims, everything it took to be able to see if you could be a lifeguard.
“And my character was supposed to be that lifeguard, so I remember when we would have scenes running, sometimes I had these guys, obviously these strong guys, that are passing me up.”
Carmen added when she fell behind in the action scenes the show’s director would have to find ways to make it appear like her character was keeping up. She said: “They would stop a little bit, move me up, start again. Or say, ‘Hey guys, run a little bit slower.’
“And I was running as fast as I possibly could. And the heat! The sun would be so hot it burns your feet, but you got to deal with it.”
Carmen told earlier this month she was once advised to lose weight while starring as Lani.
She added to Extra: “I never had a weigh-in, but I was told sometimes that I was too heavy, and I’ve looked back now, and I don’t think I was.
“(Producers would) come up to you and just say, ‘You need to lose some pounds.’”
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