Carmen Electra Reflects on Being Homeless in L.A. Before Making It Big in the '90s: 'There Was a Lot of Struggling'
In addition to Electra, Juliette Lewis, Brittany Daniel and Cynthia Daniel Hauser all appeared at 90s Con Florida and opened up about how they got their start
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Carmen ElectraThe ladies of the '90s are still iconic to this day!
Carmen Electra, Juliette Lewis, Brittany Daniel and Cynthia Daniel Hauser sat down for a conversation at 90s Con Florida on Saturday, Sept. 14, moderated by PEOPLE TV Staff Editor Dory Jackson, where they discussed their experiences being '90s starlets.
Though Electra has long been hailed as a '90s bombshell, the Baywatch alum, 52, admitted that she was "very shy" early on in her career while reflecting on how she got her start.
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Carmen Electra on 'Baywatch'"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 trained dancer, the model knew she would struggle to have a successful career in that field. She recalled feeling lost and discouraged about how she would jumpstart her career 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 explained. She recalled nurturing those connections by keeping 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 before gesturing to the crowd. "You guys make it happen."
Electra (née Tara Leigh Patrick) credits her rise to stardom to Prince, who she says "discovered" her. He changed her name to her famous moniker and produced her studio album. "He just set me up and he was so supportive," she recalled, adding that he wanted 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 movies like the Scary Movie franchise and Starsky & Hutch. But her breakthrough role was as Lani McKenzie in Baywatch.
Lewis, 51, has received various accolades throughout her career, including nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Some of her biggest film roles over the years were in Cape Fear, Natural Born Killers and What's Eating Gilbert Grape.
While reflecting on how she got her start at 90s Con Florida, Lewis recalled how she got the acting bug from watching her father Geoffrey Lewis work as a character actor when she was young.
"I was essentially babysat in the hair and makeup trailer on movie sets when I would visit my dad," she smiled, sharing how she recently was able to have a "full circle moment" when she returned to work in the same stage father once did.
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(L) Brittany and Cynthia Daniel on 'Sweet Valley High'Brittany and Cynthia both co-starred as Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield respectively on Sweet Valley High from 1994 to 1997 for four seasons. The beloved series was based on Francine Pascal's novels of the same name.
During the panel, the two opened up about how they navigated their early careers in Hollywood while in in school.
"We were in high school, a good portion of that," Brittany said, adding that they struggled with "breaking into the business" at 15 years old. "Then my sister and I did Basketball Diaries together, then we got Sweet Valley High."
Cynthia also 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 still very close. In 2022, Brittany revealed she had a baby using Cynthia's donor egg.
"It’s so funny I have three kids and my daughter looks identical to my husband," Cynthia said during 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 occurring through Sunday, Sept. 15, at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla.
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