Erika Eleniak: 'Baywatch' fans underestimated challenges

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Erika Eleniak joined more than 35 of her Baywatch co-stars in discussing the hit show in the docuseries, After Baywatch: A Moment in the Sun , which premieres Wednesday on Hulu.

Eleniak played lifeguard Shauni McClain for three seasons from 1989 to 1992. She said fans often underestimated the show's daily physical intensity.

"Running on sand is really hard," Eleniak, 54, told UPI in an interview in Pasadena, Calif. "Running in and out of the water is really hard."

Baywatch featured elaborate water stunts as the lifeguards saved guest stars from drowning. However, Eleniak lamented that fans took it for granted that they could make the beach activity look graceful.

"It doesn't always look cool, either, so trying to make it look good and do it well is definitely not easy," Eleniak said. "I don't think anybody ever thought any of it was hard."

Eleniak said she learned how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation during Baywatch , though her certification has long since passed.

"I really need to take a refresher," Eleniak said. "It's been too long."

In trailers for After Baywatch, several cast members both male and female discuss the challenges of staying in shape for their roles. Eleniak agreed that wearing a bathing suit for work made her more sensitive about how she appeared on camera.

"Fitness is important, how you feel is important," Eleniak said. "So you became more hyperaware."

In addition to wearing the red one-piece suits weekly, Eleniak's body also was on display in a July 1989 Playboy Playmate of the Month pictorial. Fans will notice one significant change today: both arms are covered in full sleeves of tattoos.

Eleniak said she first became interested in tattoos in her late '20s, but the full sleeves are recent. She is now working on her back.

"Most of my sleeve work is probably within five years," Eleniak said. "It's been a work in progress over the years of starting and stopping, so not really consecutive."

Despite the grueling physicality and scrutiny, Baywatch was not all hardship. Eleniak said she has fond memories of the guest stars who appeared in episodes, including Gilligan's Island cast members and future stars.

"We had Dawn Wells and Bob Denver on the show," Eleniak said. "We had David Spade on the show, Danny Trejo's been on the show."

Eleniak said she left Baywatch to pursue a film career. She achieved it with roles in Hollywood movies like Under Siege, The Beverly Hillbillies and Chasers .

"I got Under Siege literally right on top of finishing Baywatch ," Eleniak said, adding that she won all her movie roles by "auditioning and hard work."

Her film career began before Baywatch , with her first movie role at age 12 in E.T. Eleniak played a classmate whom Elliot (Henry Thomas) kisses.

"That was all improvisation, too, with Steven Spielberg," Eleniak said, adding that she did not know Thomas would stand on another classmate to reach her lips. "The whole thing was a surprise."

The Blob also consumed Eleniak in a 1988 remake.

Of her post- Baywatch film roles, Eleniak counts Hillbillies as one of her favorites. In the remake of the TV comedy, Eleniak played Clampett daughter Elly May, who moved to California after her family struck oil.

She loved the role "because it was fun, because the cast was amazing," Eleniak said. "The character was really fun to play."

A fan of the show, Eleniak and the filmmakers wanted to update the Donna Douglas character for 1993.

"I grew up watching the reruns, so I was familiar with Donna Douglas," Eleniak said. "We needed to keep it similar, but we needed to also keep it current so it wasn't going to be a carbon copy of what she did."

Eleniak has kept acting since the '90s. She said one of her lesser-known favorites is a 2000 boxing film called The Opponent .

Today, Eleniak said E.T. is second only to Baywatch among the roles she hears about from fans, which surprises her because she was 12 in the film.

"You'd be surprised," Eleniak said. "I get a lot of people saying, 'Oh my gosh, are you the girl from E.T.?"