54-year-old Erika Eleniak recently shocked everyone with her new look – her arms are now adorned with numerous tattoos. It’s hard to recognize the former bombshell who was once a sex symbol of the early 1990s.

Erika was a stunning child, and her parents quickly capitalized on her beauty through commercials and TV appearances. At just 12 years old, she landed a role in one of Hollywood’s most iconic films, Steven Spielberg’s *E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial* (1982). She played the pretty classmate who was the object of the main character’s affection.

However, 1989 was her true breakout year. At the age of 20, she posed for *Playboy* and became a star on the hit show *Baywatch*. The series, which featured stunning women in red swimsuits running down the beach, skyrocketed her fame, and Erika Eleniak became the latest sex symbol.

In 1992, Erika left *Baywatch* to pursue a film career. For the first couple of years, Hollywood welcomed her with open arms. She starred in the box-office hit and Oscar-nominated thriller *Under Siege* alongside Steven Seagal and Tommy Lee Jones. She then appeared in the big-screen remake of the successful 1960s sitcom *The Beverly Hillbillies*.

But her next films didn’t fare so well. The 1995 romantic comedy *A Pyromaniac’s Love Story* failed to impress, and the same fate awaited the horror-comedy *Bordello of Blood* (1996), part of the *Tales from the Crypt* franchise. By the age of 27, Hollywood had essentially crossed Erika Eleniak off its A-list, and her career didn’t see another major resurgence.

In 2001, the actress married a crew technician, and in 2006, she gave birth to a child. Around that time, Erika began to part ways with the beauty that had once defined her career. She struggled with overeating and weight gain. From 2006 to 2010, she didn’t appear in any films, but she eventually returned to acting, making occasional appearances in various projects.