By John Dudley
Ahhh, the late teens and twenties. It's the time when a woman's body is its most taut and toned. Breasts have only had the opportunity to grow out, not down. Backsides show none of the effects of cellulite or gravity. Staying in shape takes minimal work, and, for actresses struggling to make it in the business, staying in work often means showing off their shape.
While the period between the ages of 18 and 30 is generally when actresses appear nude in films, there are thankfully a number of exceptions. If your favorite starlet has already ascended to true stardom and reached her thirties without doffing her duds, all hope is not lost. Even for A-listers, there remains the distinct possibility that they will be revealing more of their tints and assets. The fact is, whether it's because of a conscious image change, the right script, or the need for a career rejuvenation, it is becoming increasingly more common for actresses to do their first nude scenes in their mid-thirties or even later.
Julie Andrews (Picture: ) was one of the first well-established performers of the modern era to turn the trick of late-career nudity. After successfully conquering the Broadway stage, she made a most memorable film debut as the title character in Mary Poppins, which won her an Academy Award.
Julie followed that up with another Oscar-nominated performance in the box-office blockbuster The Sound of Music, and a wholesome, squeaky-clean image was solidified.
In this early work, she was showing both her singing and acting range, but she definitely wasn't showing skin. Her husband, the director Blake Edwards, helped change that by setting up the casting couch in his own home. First, in his G-rated Darling Lili, Julie offered just the slightest tease with a momentary peak at her rosy nipple (Picture: 1). A decade later, when in her mid-forties, she made legions of long-lusting men exclaim "I'll be a son of a bitch" as she surprisingly pulled off the top of her dress in S.O.B. (Picture: 1 - 2 - 3)Whereas Julie Andrews already had an Academy Award collecting dust on her mantle when she disrobed on camera, some actresses take such risks while still in the pursuit of the golden statuette. A case in point is Holly Hunter (Picture: ), the short, spunky Georgian who became widely known with starring roles in movies like Raising Arizona and Broadcast News. In 1993, Holly won both critical acclaim and the coveted Oscar for her portrayal of a mute woman who becomes part of an arranged marriage in The Piano (Picture: 1 - 2). Although her character had deliberately chosen not to speak, Holly lets her body do plenty of talking in the company of Harvey Keitel. That same year, Holly also snagged a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her part in The Firm, but it was her firm parts on display in The Piano that struck a chord with men ... and raised the curtain on her full exposure.
The Piano's nude scenes were Holly's first, but now it seems a challenge to keep clothes on her -- a challenge we hope no one takes up! Despite being well into her forties, Holly has continued to flaunt her sculpted physique in a number of movies, including Thirteen (Picture: 1 - 2 - 3) just last year.
Sigourney Weaver (Picture: ) is another woman who holds the rare distinction of being nominated for both Best Actress (for Gorillas in the Mist) and Best Supporting Actress (for Working Girl) in the same year.
Although 1988 didn't see her win in either category, Sigourney had already won the hearts of skin fans two years prior with her portrayal of a different type of working girl in Half Moon Street (Picture: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4). In deciding to join a high-priced call-girl agency, her character definitely puts the "tit" in prostitution. Sigourney actually took her first name from a character in an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, and this film offers several good looks at her Great Gatsbies.
It was the first time American audiences had seen the popular star of Alien and Ghostbusters in the altogether, but it wouldn't be the last. Even at the menopausal age of fifty, she was still making men pause to admire her eye-catching figure in A Map of the World (Picture: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4).Taking that initial "dare to go bare" often requires overcoming modesty, and a large sum of money can seemingly make an actress feel more comfortable with the idea of being naked on the big screen.
Halle Berry (Picture: ), for instance, had a considerable financial incentive to help her get past any reservations she may have had. For 2001's Swordfish (Picture: 1 - 2), Halle was reportedly paid an additional $500,000 above her already-negotiated contract to show her bountiful breasts.
We can all be grateful for that investment, because the scene in which she sunbathes topless proves that, to borrow a line from Seinfeld, "they're real and they're spectacular."
Having already cleared the hurdle of nudity, Halle then had no problem stripping down for her defining role in Monster's Ball (Picture: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4). Playing the wife of an executed convict, she ends up banging some sense into Billy Bob Thornton's character, thereby making the racist prison warden change his bigoted ways. The performance earned Halle the Academy Award for Best Actress, but she never even would have gotten the part had she not been willing to expose her twin trophies.
All-time Mr. Skin favorite Mimi Rogers (Picture: ) has both the looks and the range to have been a superstar, but her rise to the top may have been slowed by her personal life. In the early portion of her career, while flirting with fame in such movies as Someone to Watch Over Me, Mimi was primarily identified as the wife of Tom Cruise. In an effort to be taken seriously as an actress, she did her best to keep her two biggest talents hidden, even though each was nearly the size of her diminutive husband.
After the end of her marriage and a series of lesser roles, it was time to let her cruise missiles get some air. In 1991's The Rapture (Picture: 1), she gave enraptured fans their first glimpses of her voluptuous form. The ultimate steamy Mimi was proudly on display a few years later in the gratuitous nudefest Full Body Massage (Picture: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4). Her scenes, particularly those in which costar Bryan Brown is working her over, undoubtedly inspired some additional rubbing.
Sometimes one of the barriers to actresses baring themselves is the medium in which they primarily work. Because the standards of non-cable American television have long prohibited nudity, TV actresses generally have no need, or opportunity, to get naked. In the '70s, Adrienne Barbeau (Picture: ) rose to prominence as the daughter on the sitcom Maude, thanks in no small part to her prominent protuberances.
Adrienne didn't make her way to the big screen until a decade later, and it is in Swamp Thing (Picture: 1 - 2) that we first see her magnificent marsh-mallows. While the theatrical release showed only a faraway shot of one breast, the DVD version has a longer, closer scene in which Adrienne gives both of her beauties a swampy sponge bath. Showing that she was still holding up well in her forties, her fleshy funbags are also available for inspection in 1987's Open House.
Another example of an actress who primarily did television work early in her career is Dana Delany (Picture: ), best known as the star of the wartime drama China Beach. While portraying an Army nurse, she made viewers want to play doctor, but we would need to be patient for her to land the right film role before we could perform a thorough examination.
After showing a bit of tit in Light Sleeper (Picture: 1 - 2), Dana opened our eyes wide when she went full frontal in Exit to Eden (Picture: 1 - 2). You really can't ask for anything more than a dripping-wet Dana getting out of the pool in all of her natural wonder. She must not be a member of PETA, since she obviously has no objection to fur. Dana has said she thought she looked good in her nude scenes, and most everyone would emphatically agree. Although the movie was a bomb, her bombs are quite moving.The current standard-bearer for latest, greatest initial nudity has to be Rene Russo (Picture: ). The beautiful former model got a delayed start in acting, entering the business when she was already past 30, and it was a while longer before she was able to land lead roles.
Rene enjoyed a nice run of successful mainstream films in the mid-'90s - Outbreak, Get Shorty, Tin Cup, Ransom - but they were all failures by skindustry standards. It wasn't until The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) (Picture: 1 - 2 - 3) that her crown jewels finally made their debut.and the wait was well worth it. Despite being 45, her body looks pleasingly perfect as Mr. Brosnan does some "piercing" in a sizzling sex scene. Later, while sunbathing, Rene's breasts are as pert as the hat she's wearing, and her skyward-pointing nipples appear hard enough to hold it. Now that's a hat rack!
Clearly, an actress reaching her mid-thirties having never done a nude scene isn't necessarily a clothed case entirely. Getting buck can mean big bucks, and, considering the variety of other possible motivations, there is always still a chance for her to delight skin fans. Hot nudity at almost any age will elicit cheers, and late can equate to great, as these eight demonstrate.
