Carmen Electra Reminisces About Homelessness in L.A. Before Finding Success in the ’90s | Celebrities

The girls of the '90s are nonetheless iconic to this present day!

Carmen Electra, Juliette Lewis, Brittany Daniel and Cynthia Daniel Hauser sat down for a dialog at 90s Con Florida on Saturday, Sept. 14, moderated by PEOPLE TV Staff Editor Dory Jackson, the place they mentioned their experiences being '90s starlets.

Though Electra has lengthy been hailed as a '90s bombshell, the Baywatch alum, 52, admitted that she was “very shy” early on in her profession whereas reflecting on how she bought her begin.

“I was homeless in L.A., I’m not from a rich family or anything like that,” she recalled. “I knew where I needed to be in N.Y. or L.A.. So there was a lot of struggling, and I didn’t really know what I was going to do. But I just started to try things and come out of my shell really. So that’s the beginning.”

Though she was a educated dancer, the mannequin knew she would battle to have a profitable profession in that subject. She recalled feeling misplaced and discouraged about how she would jumpstart her profession in Hollywood.

“I would not want to go into auditions, I’d leave and say everyone’s so pretty, I can’t do this, I can’t memorize anything,” she admitted.

“I felt like trying things and meeting some good people on the way that helped me,” Electra defined. She recalled nurturing these connections by retaining a “shank in my jean shorts” and “walking to a payphone” with a pager in hand.

“I don’t know if people really know that about me but there it is,” she smiled earlier than gesturing to the crowd. “You guys make it happen.”

Electra (née Tara Leigh Patrick) credit her rise to stardom to Prince, who she says “discovered” her. He modified her title to her well-known moniker and produced her studio album. “He just set me up and he was so supportive,” she recalled, including that he needed her to open up for him in Europe. “With his support I got a tad bit more confident and just tried things and tried to keep that in mind with all my insecurities that I still have.”

Electra, 52, made a splash in the '80s, '90s and early '00s for her roles in films like the Scary Movie franchise and Starsky & Hutch. But her breakthrough function was as Lani McKenzie in Baywatch.

Lewis, 51, has obtained numerous accolades all through her profession, together with nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Some of her largest movie roles over the years have been in Cape Fear, Natural Born Killers and What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

While reflecting on how she bought her begin at 90s Con Florida, Lewis recalled how she bought the appearing bug from watching her father Geoffrey Lewis work as a personality actor when she was younger.

“I was essentially babysat in the hair and makeup trailer on movie sets when I would visit my dad,” she smiled, sharing how she just lately was in a position to have a “full circle moment” when she returned to work in the similar stage father as soon as did.

Brittany and Cynthia each co-starred as Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield respectively on Sweet Valley High from 1994 to 1997 for 4 seasons. The beloved collection was based mostly on Francine Pascal's novels of the similar title.

During the panel, the two opened up about how they navigated their early careers in Hollywood whereas in in faculty.

“We were in high school, a good portion of that,” Brittany mentioned, including that they struggled with “breaking into the business” at 15 years previous. “Then my sister and I did Basketball Diaries together, then we got Sweet Valley High.”

Cynthia additionally chimed in, “I was working on Swans Crossing. I was in high school, I was a cheerleader, trying to figure out my life and who I was. Then we started Sweet Valley High and soon after I met my husband Cole.”

The two are nonetheless very shut. In 2022, Brittany revealed she had a child utilizing Cynthia's donor egg.

“It’s so funny I have three kids and my daughter looks identical to my husband,” Cynthia mentioned throughout the panel. “I gave you my eggs and you get the girl who looks like us! But that was really special.”

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90s Con Florida is happening by Sunday, Sept. 15, at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla.