Former 'Baywatch' Icon Looks Unrecognizable During LA Outing — After TV Star Revealed Secrets About Kissing Scene In 'E.T.'
A star of Baywatch looked unrecognizable decades later.
June 30 2025, Published 7:19 p.m. ET
A former Baywatch babe who first found fame in an iconic scene from the movie E.T. looked like she may have wanted to phone home to her stylist, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The now 55-year-old was unrecognizable as she walked her dog in Los Angeles.
Erika Eleniak traded red swimwear for black shorts.
Erika Eleniak was a far cry from her ultra-sexy heyday, when she played the iconic red swimsuit-wearing Shauni McClain in the smash hit series alongside David Hasselhoff.
Gone was the skintight, revealing bathing suit, replaced by black denim long shorts and a black graphic T-shirt. She paired the look with some simple pink flip-flops and a black fanny pack.
Her arms were covered in a variety of colorful tattoos sleeved down her side as she held her keys in one hand and a bag in the other.
A knee-high dog happily bounced next to her as she walked.
Pucker Up
She was spotted walking her dog in Los Angeles.
Recently, Eleniak reflected on her breakout role in E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, and the key scene that saw her forced to – ewwwww – kiss a boy!
Eleniak was just 12 when she was cast by famed director Steven Spielberg to receive a passionate kiss from Elliot, played by then 10-year-old Henry Thomas.
Dropping by Steve Kmetko's Still Here Hollywood podcast, she said: "I cried because I didn't want to kiss Henry Thomas. I was very nervous. I remember Steven coming into the trailer with me and my mom, talking to me for about 10 minutes. He assured me it would be a closed set, so that very few people would be there."
In the classic scene, a "drunk" Elliott grabs the taller Eleniak, and in a fit of passion, steps on another student's back like a ladder to plant a kiss on her lips.
However, the former Playboy model revealed there was no real rehearsal before the big moment.
"It was all improv," she confessed. "In fact, it was Steven who had that little boy who Henry stands on top of, I remember him choreographing that quickly, (and saying), 'Hey, you come over here. We're going to push you down on the ground, and Henry's going to stand on top of you.'
"It was absolutely brilliant, actually."
Playboy Legacy
Eleniak had to kiss Henry Thomas in 'E.T.'
Eleniak went on to star in projects like Tales From the Crypt Presents: Bordello of Blood and Aftershock: Earthquake in New York. But she found her biggest fame as a lifeguard on Baywatch.
It was a part she almost didn't get after NBC discovered she previously modeled for Playboy, which she revealed in the recent docuseries After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun.
"I didn’t need to do Playboy," she confessed. "In fact, I knew even at that age that it would create obstacles for me, but at that age you feel invincible.
"When you do Playboy as a celebrity, it is steak tartare. When you do it as a flavor of the month, it is nasty raw meat. It is hypocrisy."
Ultimately, the creators successfully kept her on the show.
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
The Struggle is Real
She found it hard to find a job after the show.
In the same docuseries, Eleniak said she struggled to find another job after starring on the renowned TV series, as she tried to start a struggling film career.
She said: "Some of the most incredible opportunities I had, I blew; self-sabotage because I was so scared."
The actress added she scored the chance to read for a role in Casino but ended up letting it go: "What I did was I burned so many bridges, major bridges, because nobody understood why I wasn't going. I was terrified. I didn't feel good enough."
