Listen: Gina Gershon Reveals 'Small-Minded' Agents Told Her Playing Gay Would Ruin Her Career

Before Gina Gershon's epic turn as a master manipulator in the camp classic "Showgirls," she starred as a lesbian in the queer classic "Bound."

The 1996 film, the first from the Wachowski sisters, finds Gershon as an ex-con who starts a relationship with a mafioso's girlfriend, played by Jennifer Tilly.

In the film, the women come up with a plan to steal $2 million of the mob boss' money and an entertaining, and at times sexy, game of cat and mouse and manipulation ensues as Corky tries to have it all. But according to Gershon, despite the richness and originality of the film's plot, her agents were more worried about her playing a lesbian.

As reported by Variety, Gershon appeared on the "It Happened in Hollywood" podcast and shared that her "small-minded" agents advised her not to take the role of out fear of what it would do to her career.

"It was a great script and I could tell they were incredible directors, but my agents were like, 'We will not let you do this movie. You are ruining your career'," Gershon said. "'We will not be able to let you represent. You will never work again'."

Her response? "I just said, 'Oh, well, I guess if you can't represent me, I'll go somewhere else.' You know? No hard feelings."

Gershon explained that she fully believed in the script and in the Wachowskis, who would go on to make the mega hit "The Matrix."

"I said, first of all, it's so shortsighted to say, 'Oh, this is a lesbian movie.' I mean, they happen to be lesbians. They happen to be into women, but it's really a movie about trust," said Gershon. "Plus, when does the girl get to play the hero, you know?"

She added, "I thought, well, I could cut off my hair, cut off my nails, have no makeup. I get the girl. I get the car. I screw over the mob. It's a win-win all around."

A win-win indeed, for her and for queer culture.

Listen to Gershon's full story on the "It Happened in Hollywood" podcast.