Elaine Hendrix Shares 2 Lessons Learned from Her ‘Incredibly Beautiful’ “Dancing with the Stars” Run (Exclusive)

Elaine Hendrix is grateful for her time on Dancing with the Stars for multiple reasons. 

The actress, 54, opened up about the lessons she learned from being on the ABC hit in an interview with PEOPLE at the 24 Hour Plays Gala. 

“I learned so many lessons,” she said. “Two in particular just immediately stick out to me. Number one was just what I’m actually capable of.”

“I had high expectations of myself and I blew them out of the water,” Hendrix continued. “To really believe in yourself when you have a dream… I gave it every ounce of my heart and soul, and it was worth it.”

The second lesson, the actress said, is “learning to receive so much love and support” from those around her.

“I literally had the country rooting for me, especially when I went to the hospital and I was afraid that I was going to be voted out because I was injured, but I wasn’t,” Hendrix said. 

“Then Alan [Bersten] and I made it to the finals. To receive that much love and support is both overwhelming and incredibly beautiful,” she added. 

Hendrix was paired with pro dancer Alan Bersten on the dance competition show. The two ultimately finished in fifth place. 

The actress suffered a rib injury during her Halloween Night rehearsal, hours before she was set to perform. She was transported to the hospital for an evaluation, and hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough announced she would not be performing that week.

Hendrix spoke to PEOPLE in October about the experience and her dedication to staying in the competition. “I’m just hoping again to go all the way, because I want to keep showing what I can do. I’m taking care of the injuries, but I’ve made it really clear to Alan that unless it’s just something I absolutely can’t do, we’re not holding back,” she said.

The 24 Hour Plays Annual Gala was on Dec. 12 at The Space at Irondale in Brooklyn, N.Y. The annual event, hosted by Colin Cosell, features talent writing, rehearsing and performing new plays in just 24 hours to raise money for the namesake organization’s nonprofit activities. 

24 Hour Plays offers educational programming to students from middle school to college, and other professional development opportunities. 

Hendrix was among the starry list of performers, alongside Andrew McCarthy, David Burtka, Kirsten Vangsness and Ralph Macchio.

“I began my career in theater, and so any chance I have to go back to my roots, I’m all for it, especially something like this,” she told PEOPLE at the event. “It’s so important to the community… This isn’t a big commitment, so you know, a lot of people can come and do it.”

“It’s just special, and I think now more than ever we need theater,” the actress added. 

Earlier this year, Hendrix produced Kevin Zak‘s off-Broadway parody Ginger Twinsies, based on Nancy Meyers’ 1998 movie The Parent Trap. The actress famously starred in the Disney movie as Meredith Blake.

At the 24 Hour Plays Gala, she told PEOPLE about her involvement with the play, saying, “I’m always happy to revisit The Parent Trap, and I do it often because pretty much every day someone is emailing me, stopping me on the street, sending me a fan letter, commenting online. That movie is so beloved through so many different generations.”

“I joyfully embrace it and was really thrilled to bring it to the stage in a wacky, wonderful, incredible way,” Hendrix said.