Atlanta ‘Parent Trap’ actress lives out dreams on ‘Dancing with the Stars’

Atlanta actress Elaine Hendrix’s best-known role is 1998’s “The Parent Trap,” where she plays Meredith Blake, the antagonist to Lindsay Lohan’s twin characters.

“All my touchstones of pop culture are coinciding right now thanks to TikTok and the Millennials,” Hendrix told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a phone interview from Los Angeles, where she is camped out for as long as she remains on the show. “It’s not so much a resurgence as a redemption for my character. From the beginning, I had to justify the actions of Meredith.”

“I just want to keep dancing,” she said. “I love the process … This was a dream I had to let go a long time ago.”

A Tennessee native, Hendrix spent part of her teen years in Atlanta and graduated in 1989 from the Northside School of Performing Arts, a magnet program at Northside High School. She spent the next three years pursuing a career in dance, focused on modern and contemporary jazz.

“I toured with Nike,” she said. “I did a big show for Mattel. I did videos for Cameo in Atlanta. I worked with Whodini, MC Hammer and Keith Sweat.”

Elaine Hendix with Alan Bersten performs a jive to Toni Basil's "Mickey." on Week 2 of "Dancing with the Stars" Season 34. (Eric McCandless/Disney)

But in 1992, she was cycling in Los Angeles when a car hit her, causing injuries that ended her dance career. “I spent months in physical therapy,” she said. She pivoted and pursued acting, which led to roles in films and TV shows like “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion,” “Superstar,” and more recently “Dynasty” on the CW as Alexis Carrington.

That “Dynasty” role in 2019 brought her back to Atlanta, where she has resided ever since. “I bought my dream house here,” she said. “I have incredible friends. There’s so much beauty and nature in Atlanta. And I can do the industry from here.”

Hendrix, who recently reunited with Lohan in “Freakier Friday,” is friends with Tom Bergeron, the former longtime host of “Dancing With the Stars.”

“I used to go to live tapings frequently when I lived in Los Angeles,” she said. “I have always loved the art form. Now I’ve become part of it!”

So far, Hendrix calls the experience “part excitement, part terrifying. I’m really working to shift more into the excitement of it. I have a lot to learn. I have to unlearn. I have a lot to relearn. I knew going in this would be hard but I didn’t know just how hard!”

The tango last week, she said, was the most difficult for her to date. “There are intricacies to it that are not intuitive to me,” she said. “I’m tall. I’m always told to keep my frame straight and shoulders back. In the tango you need to have your shoulders and head back and your knees bent. It’s not natural.”

But she isn’t complaining. She is practicing four hours a day with her dance partner Alan Bersten, learning different ballroom dances each week. This is the first time she’s done any dance training since her accident.

“In real life, I’d never be able to do this,” she said. “I may never have an opportunity like this again.”

At age 54, Hendrix is the second-oldest person on cast after “Conan” sidekick Andy Richter (58) and just a few months younger than actor Corey Feldman, also 54.

“I want to prove to myself, to Alan and to people watching that women of a certain age, we don’t stop,” she said. “I love the hard work this takes. This brings me joy. I feel like I’m built for this. I love the focus this requires. I want to be the best I can be.”

The judges so far have raved about her ability to perform on stage, but have nitpicked issues with her shoulders and her core.