In our weekly seriesAnatomy of a Nude Scene, we're going to be taking a look at (in)famous sexscenes and nude scenes throughout cinema history and examining their construction, their relationship to the film around it, and their legacy. This week, Amy Locane got written out of Melrose Place and ended up seducing Dennis Hopper in Carried Away!
One of the worst things that can happen to an actor is to get written out of a hit show, but it's particularly bad when an actor gets canned and then the show becomes a hit. This is what happened to Amy Locane in 1992 when she was unceremoniously cut from Melrose Place only thirteen episodes into the first season. The show premiered in the summer which, back then, was a death sentence for a series. Almost all network shows air re-runs all summer, so when Melrose Place debuted in early July, 1992, one might presume that audiences hungry for new content flocked to the series immediately.
Unfortunately that just wasn't how things worked back then and by the time most of the regular network shows began returning in September, Aaron Spelling's latest primetime soap was in a dire place, struggling to gain viewers. Rather than facing the ignominious distinction of getting cancelled, Spelling and the show's creative team agreed to do a total overhaul of the show that leaned into the soapier aspects of the premise. New saucier characters played by Daphne Zuniga, Heather Locklear, and Marcia Cross were brought on, while bland characters like Amy Locane's southern belle character Sandy—as well as the show's only non-white character, played by Vanessa Williams—got the axe.
The show, of course, became a cultural phenomenon while Locane's career didn't seem to suffer any immediate impact. In 1994 she played the female lead in the comedy Airheads and played Jessica Lange's daughter in the Oscar-winning drama Blue Sky, but by the following year, her career seems to undeniably trend downward. In 1995, she used a body double for the nudity required of her character in the direct-to-video flick Criminal Hearts, but she plunged headlong into nudity with the following year's Carried Away.
The film stars Dennis Hopper as a mild-mannered schoolteacher in a small farming town in the 60s, taking care of his dying mother (Julie Harris) while also carrying on a long-term relationship with a local widow (Amy Irving). Everythingin his world is turned upside down when the sexually combustible 17 year old Catherine (Locane) moves to town with her militant father (the always incredible Gary Busey),and Hopper gets, well, carried away, as the title might suggest. The two begin an affair, seemingly right under the noses of everyone in town. As Busey later tells him when confronted with what's been going on,the whole thing was probably less than half his fault, but stillHopper's learned teacherought to know better.
It doesn't take long to get to the seduction, either, with Catherine coming into town and making an arrangement to board her horse in Hopper's barn before we're even twenty minutes into the flick. Catherine's seduction starts not long after, at the 24 minute mark, whenLocanetakes her top off for the first time on screen...
While he seems to reject her in this clip, he returns not five seconds later and starts getting down with her. From there, the film is a series of clandestine meetings between the two, coupled with Hopper's own feelings of guilt over his betrayal of his long-time lover.The film is far better than your average Lolita knock-off, thanks in no small part to its stellar cast, but also because it takes a much less dramatic route to its conclusion than most middle-aged man falls for an underaged girl type of stories.
Carried Away was also fairly well received critically, but left next-to-zero cultural footprint and was mostly relegated to late night showings on HBO, where voracious Locane fans would hang around hoping to catch a glimpse of her naked—hey, this was before Mr. Skin existed. Even still, with the ability to fast-forward to the good parts, this is a film worth seeking it out because of the much different outcome when compared with the vast majority of films in this subgenre.
At the end of the day, though,Amy Locane really never got a fair shake because of the whole Melrose Place debacle and that's a shame. Who knows what might have happened with her career had she stayed at Melrose, though twenty-plus years on, it's hard to call that show a launching pad for anyone's career really. It helped revive careers more than it did launch them, but I digress. It's nice that she went nude when she did—at 24, playing a 17 year old—it's just sad that it came on the downside of her career rather than on her continued ascent.
P.S. If you want a really amusing take on all of the nudity in this flick—particularly Hopper's nude scenes—read basically any user review of the film on IMDb. They literally all seem to mention it.
Catch up withour most recent editions ofAnatomy of a Nude Scene
—The Shape of Water Opens with Sally Hawkins Masturbating in the Tub
—Jennifer Jason Leigh Gets the Drop on Bridget Fonda inSingle White Female
—Monique Gabrielle EnsuresBachelor Partyis an Affair to Remember
—An Entire Generation of Men Saw Bare Breasts for the First Time inCaddyshack
—Maggie Gyllenhaal Holds Nothing Back inSecretary
—Demi Moore Took a Record Paycheck to HeadlineStriptease
—That Time We All Fell in Love with Kelly Preston inMischief
—What Happened with Marisa Tomei's Nude Scene fromUntamed Heart
—Cybill Shepherd is Uncomfortably Relatable inThe Last Picture Show
—Penelope Cruz Does Very Different Nude Scenes Playing the Same Role inOpen Your EyesandVanilla Sky
—Joyce Hyser Becomes an 80s Icon inJust One of the Guys
—Charlize Theron Lands on the Map with2 Days in the Valley
—SirensMay be Plural, But All Eyes Were on Elle MacPherson
—Eva Green's Star is Born in Bertolucci'sThe Dreamers
—Phoebe Cates Takes a Dip and Becomes a Legend inFast Times at Ridgemont High
**Click Here to Read All Past Editions of Anatomy of a Nude Scene/Anatomy of a Scene's Anatomy**
