Beverly Hills, 90210 star Gabrielle Carteris is opening up about an injury she got that changed her life.
During the Monday, February 23, episode of the Still Here Hollywood podcast, Carteris, 65, recalled getting injured while fimling a movie in the 2000s.
In the scene, a male guest costar had to lift her character and drag her down the stairs. The actor was "very hyped up" and "kept lifting" repeatedly even after she told him to stop because of the dangerous way he wa sholding her neck.
"Then a day or two later, I started losing the feeling in my face," Carteris recalled.
This was accompanied by headaches and "a lot of pain" before her face completely changed.
"I looked like the Joker. It was so disfiguring, and it was a form of palsy," she added.
Finally, her "body started to convulse,” which led a doctor on set to come check on her.
She had to fly home but got embarrassed at the airport becasue "people were staring" at her.
"I was so really deformed and I couldn’t talk," she added.
Carteris got her speech back after seeking treatment.
But she also sought justice by filing a lawsuit that went on for nine years before she won it.
"It helped to change some laws in Canada," she noted.
Ultimately, the incident "informed my belief in labor and unions," and helped Gabrielle Carteris with her position as SAG-AFTRA president from 2016 to 2021.