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RISING STAR from page 59
Top left:
Celebrating
her bat mitzvah
at Congregation
Beth Abraham
Hillel Moses.
"I still remember
the beginning
of my Haftorah,"
says Berkley.
Top right:
Elizabeth Berkley
and her brother,
Dr. Jason Berkley
"She's known [in
the business] as
being a genuine,
nice person," he
says of Elizabeth,
whom he calls
"his best fiiend."
Congregation Beth Ahm — in
West Bloomfield, both
Conservative congregations in the
Detroit suburbs.
"People say to me, 'Why is that?'
And I say, 'Because I've had to sing
it for people to prove to them [I'm
Jewish]. I don't know why. It's just
a funny thing. That or the Four
Questions or 'Dayenu; which I'll
go into rounds of"
Now that she lives in
California, Berkley attends L.A.'s
Reform Stephen A. Wise Temple
with her parents, Fred and Jere
Berkley, who moved to the West
Coast when Elizabeth was 15.
"I've taken singing lessons
[there] from Cantor Nathan Lam
for quite a few years, so that's
where we've gone for the High
Holidays," says Elizabeth. "I love
the services there."
She's also attended services at
Bottom:
Elizabeth Berkley Synagogue for the Performing
in her roles in
Arts in Los Angeles, where she
"Showgirls,"
finds Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
far left, and
pretty inspiring."
"The Real
But it was back home in
Blonde."
Michigan that Berkley developed
her strong family values and a
love for Judaism that guide her.
"Not only am I grateful for my
family, but there's a real love I
have for growing up Jewish, and
where I grew up, because there's a foundation that
it's given me in these crazy kind of worlds that I
might come across," says the actress.
"And I have to say, it doesn't ever leave me. I could
be sitting next to someone and be in conversation or
see that [the person] has a Jewish star on, and instantly,
it's just a comfort. You can go anywhere in the world,
and it's an immediate, immediate feeling of home."
"
more like a fresh-faced college student than any
one of the seductresses she's played in the movies.
She is, perhaps, best known for her role as Nomi
Malone, a topless Las Vegas stripper/lap dancer, in
the NC-17-rated Showgirls, which launched her fea-
ture-film career among a swirl of controversy and
poor reviews in 1995. It followed a more than three-
year stint as Jessie, the girl-next-door, on the popular
Saturday-morning TV sitcom Saved by the Bell.
"One thing I'm very grateful [for] is that Woody
— along with certain other filmmakers whom I hold
in high esteem — was willing to see something more
than what was in [Showgirls], or in Saved by the
Bell," says the 20-something Berkley. "Some of the
roles I've played were a bit more aggressive or tough.
[Woody] wanted to show a little bit more of who I
really am in this role.
"I think he wanted to show the sweeter side, which,
let's say, is the girl from Farmington Hills, Mich. I've
felt truer to [Jill] than most characters I've played.
Which is r 't to say I don't love to play characters dif-
ferent from me. But it's been a while and it just felt
good to be more myself. Just kind of refreshing."
What Allen also saw in the young actress, he tells
the Jewish News, was a flair for comedy.
When asked why he cast Berkley in the role of his new
film's demurely dressed "good girl," Allen's voice turns
"Woody-esque": "Because I saw her in that T a. s Vegas
movie, and I couldn't turn my ,.)7 -es off her," he jokes.
But in a serious tone, he adds, "I thought she
could be funny, that she had the ability. This is a girl
who's got a very sort of perky quality, and she's sexy
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and she's got a lot of energy, and if she's used cor-
rectly, she can be a very funny actress. All she needs
is a couple of chances to show that.
"I only had a small thing to offer her in this film,
but perhaps along the line, I'll have something more
substantial for her, and I wouldn't hesitate for a sec-
ond to cast her because she's got that energy."
While Berkley, who actually writes her goals and
plans down in a journal, doesn't want to limit herself
to comedic roles — an action flick and a period
piece are high on her list of dream parts — she'd
love to do more comedy.
"I'm willing to be the Lucy and be real silly," she
says. "I think a lot of leading women don't want to
show themselves that way, but I'm a willing party. I
like to have fun and I like to poke fun. I take my
work seriously, but I like to see the humor in things.
I think it's a healing thing."
Who A Jew?
Experienced filmmaker that he is, Woody Allen may
be fully cognizant of Berkley's acting potential, but
it's doubtful he realizes she's Jewish.
"He doesn't know," Berkley admits. "Not that I
know. He probably thinks I'm a [non-Jew]."
As do most of the Jewish filmmakers and produc-
ers in Hollywood.
"I still remember the beginning of my Haftorah,"
says Berkley, who, growing up, attended Adat Shalom
Synagogue in Farmington Hills and celebrated her
bat mitzvah at Beth Abraham Hillel Moses — now
Hometown Girl
Berkley grew up in a Jewish area of Farmington
Hills, where, from a very early age, she dreamed
of becoming a star.
"Luckily, my parents didn't take it as a joke because I
was serious and I wanted to do the work necessary,"
says Berkley; whose grandparents the late Adolph and
the late Ruth Gottfurcht ferried her to and from danc-
ing and acting classes. Another grandmother, Celia
Berkley, still lives in the Detroit area.
"A lot of people where I grew up thought it was
rather funny what I was dreaming of doing," says
Berkley, whose dance recital song-and-tap number,
"Hey Look Me Over," convinced her she "had to do
this my whole life."
She's grateful for her parents — big Woody Allen fans
who played his movies at home (Berkley's favorite is
Annie Hall). They let her go to New York and model,
travel to L.A. and take classes "instead of going to sum-
mer camp I really didn't want to go to. I wanted to train
in L.A., and they let me have these opportunities."
She gives special credit for her success to her danc-