Whatever Happened to Elizabeth Berkley? Here’s What the ‘All’s Fair’ Guest Star Has Been Up To
What To Know
- Elizabeth Berkley, best known as Jessie Spano from Saved by the Bell, faced career challenges after the backlash from her role in Showgirls but continued acting in smaller roles in film, television, and theater.
- In the 2000s, she expanded her career with Broadway roles and launched Ask-Elizabeth, an empowerment program and book for teenage girls.
- After focusing on family and select projects in the 2010s, Berkley returned to prominence by reprising her Saved by the Bell role and will star in Ryan Murphy’s new series All’s Fair premiering November 4, 2025.
Elizabeth Berkley will be back on our small screens on Ryan Murphy’s new Kim Kardhasian-led legal drama All’s Fair, premiering November 4, 2025. Berkley, who can be seen in the trailer, will be playing Dee Barber, one of the women who seeks out the help of the show’s pricey divorce attorneys. For most of us, Berkley will always be remembered as Jessie Spano, Saved by the Bell‘s resident type A perfectionist. But in 1995, Berkley took a risk that nearly ended her career overnight: she starred in the over-the-top NC-17 film Showgirls, which became one of the decade’s most infamous flops. For years after, Berkley kept a relatively low profile — but in the years she was out of the public eye, the actress, started a family, appeared in stage productions, and even launched an advice website for girls.
Focusing on smaller roles and theater
In the years immediately following Showgirls, Berkley stayed busy, even if most of her work was under the radar. She appeared in The First Wives Club in 1996, followed by a supporting role in Oliver Stone‘s Any Given Sunday in 1999.
That same year, she earned praise for her performance in Lenny on London’s West End. Though she admitted later that she felt ostracized by Hollywood at the time, Berkley kept working steadily, taking on more minor roles that helped her grow as an actor, and focusing especially on theater, a world she had not previously been very active in.
United Artists/Everett Collection
The 2000s marked a turning point. Berkley made a strong impression on Broadway in Sly Fox in 2004 and again in the off-Broadway revival of Hurlyburly in 2005. On television, she popped up in a variety of roles, from CSI: Miami to The L Word, proving her range.
An advice column
But Berkleys biggest passion project came in 2006, when she launched Ask-Elizabeth, an advice and empowerment program for teenage girls that later became a book in 2011.
Netflix/Everett Collection
Focusing on family
By the 2010s, Berkley had stepped away from high-profile Hollywood life to focus on family. She married artist and actor Greg Lauren in 2003, and they welcomed their son, Sky, in 2012. Around that time, she appeared in the Hallmark film Lucky Christmas and joined season 17 of Dancing with the Stars, where fans were thrilled to see her back on television. She also made guest appearances on Melissa & Joey and New Girl, but chose her projects carefully, preferring to spend more time with her family.
Then, in 2020, Berkley made a return to the role that started it all. She reprised her role as Jessie Spano in Peacock’s Saved by the Bell revival, also serving as an executive producer. For fans, it was nostalgic, but for Berkley, it was something more profound. She described the experience as “healing.”
You can stream the premiere episode of All’s Fair on Hulu and Disney+ beginning at 12am EST, November 4, 2025.
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February 2021
1990s Rom-Coms
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