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In our weekly series Anatomy of a Nude Scene, we're going to be taking a look at (in)famous sex scenes and nude scenes throughout cinema history and examining their construction, their relationship to the film around it, and their legacy. This week, Jessica Chastain makes her film and nude debuts in Al Pacino's Salomé, but it doesn't get released until after she's a star!
Al Pacino has had something of a lifelong obsession with Oscar Wilde's 1891 play Salomé, based on the biblical story that ended in the beheading of John the Baptist. Wilde's play, though written in 1891, wasn't first performed until 1896 when the author was imprisoned for two years for "gross indecency" (re: he was gay). The show, though obviously incredibly controversial, became a staple of the theatre scene around the world for the next four decades, before it fell into obscurity as art censorship laws became increasingly stricter in the 1930s and 40s.
Wilde based his play on ten verses in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 14, in which it is revealed that John the Baptist (known in the play as Jokanaan) was imprisoned for making public his criticism of King Herod's marriage to Herodias, the wife of Herod's deceased half brother. As a gift to the couple, Herodias' daughter Salomé performs an erotically charged dance for Herod—which Wilde dubbed "the dance of the seven veils"—at the behest of her own mother. To reward her for this dance, Herod agrees to grant any request Salomé likes, prompting her to ask for Jokanaan's head on a silver platter.
In 1992, Pacino starred as King Herod in a Circle in the Square revival of Wilde's play on Broadway, co-starring Twin Peaks' Sheryl Lee as Herod's stepdaughter Salomé, who performs the infamous "dance of the seven veils" for him. This would kick off his obsession with the project that would lead him to make two films and star in or direct two other stage productions of the show over the next thirty years.
In 2006, Pacino mounted—at his own expense—a staged reading of Wilde's play at UCLA’s Wadsworth Theatre under the supervision of Oscar winning actress Estelle Parsons (Bonnie and Clyde). A then-unknown actress named Jessica Chastain was cast in the role of Salomé and would remain Pacino's preferred actress for the role over his ensuing projects. Chastain had done a lot of one-off television roles at this point in her career, but was still two years away from her "official" movie debut in 2008's Jolene and a full five years from her breakout year of 2011 when she appeared in The Tree of Life, The Help, and five other roles.
While working on this production, Pacino devised an idea for two feature films based on the material. One was slated to be a straight film adaptation of the piece, while the other would be a documentary about the history of Wilde's play combined with a behind-the-scenes look at the ins and outs of this particular production. It would take nearly 12 years to get to both films, Salomé and Wilde Salomé, into theaters though neither project helped the notoriously cagey actor/director shake the urge to continue exploring this piece.
We could spend another ten paragraphs discussing Pacino, his history with this piece, along with his own proclivity for making documentaries and other film projects that only barely come to fruition. It's all fascinating stuff, but probably best left to another piece on another website. Instead, let's return our focus to Chastain, who probably thought she was catching the career break of a lifetime when she first became involved with the project. For an up-and-comer looking to break into the business, you could do a lot worse than being hand selected by one of the most respected actors of his generation to be the face of his next big thing—though in fairness, it was likely Parsons who cast her in the first place.
Still, to go from a string of one-off television roles to playing the title role in a high profile project like this must have seemed like a dream come true. What she likely didn't bargain for was that Pacino is the kind of guy who takes his time with things when he has complete creative control. On the set of her second film—and her second titular role, no less—in Jolene, Chastain anxiously awaited word that Pacino had finished Salomé, but word obviously never came. Even without the benefit of her filmed but still unreleased film debut, the actress plugged along, landing plum roles and working her way up the Hollywood food chain.
By the time she landed her second consecutive Oscar nomination in early 2013—for 2012's Zero Dark Thirty—Pacino was still tinkering with the films "on Saturday afternoons" with no firm release date in sight. In fact, she could be forgiven for thinking the film might never see the light of day, but roundabout August of that year, the film had a brief and bizarre Oscar qualifying run in Los Angeles before disappearing once again. The flick wouldn't turn up again until mid September 2014, when it was released theatrically in the UK.
In an interesting arc, Chastain's career actually began to decline by the time both films finally got a proper release here in the US during the spring of 2018. Her role in Molly's Game had failed to net her any substantial award nominations and high profile bombs in recent years like The Huntsman: Winter's War, Miss Sloane, and The Zookeeper's Wife had tarnished her once stellar reputation. It's also hard not to overlook another contributing factor in the resurgence of Bryce Dallas Howard's career, which had stalled in the wake of Chastain's ascendance.
This perfect storm of consequences admittedly out of her control led to the release of both Salomé and Wilde Salomé being greeted mostly by a shrug from the critical community. I doubt it ever really entered the general public's sphere of awareness and one can't help but wonder why Pacino kind of buried the films after spending the better part of two decades working on them. There was talk of him actually mounting another production of the show in London's West End in 2014, yet another curious footnote in this whole curious saga.
While it's a reach to say that Chastain's performance would have been more lauded had the film been released earlier in her career, it's easy to see why Pacino became obsessed with her in the role from this ninety second clip alone. Here Chastain wraps up her "dance of the seven veils" by making her proper and official nude debut as Pacino works himself up into a full-on "hoo-ha" overacting whirlwind watching her...
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The film, even after its belated arrival on the scene, likely did nothing to help or hurt Chastain's reputation as an actress. It's obviously great to see her topless in her late 20s and her go-for-broke attitude as an actress helps her acquit herself of Pacino's gaze quite nicely. Up next for Chastain, she's set to play Tammy Faye Bakker in The State alum Michael Showalter's new film The Eyes of Tammy Faye, so that should be something to watch.
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Catch up with our most recent editions of Anatomy of a Nude Scene
—Salma Hayek Knocks Our Pants Off with Her Performance in Frida
—Kirsten Dunst Goes Topless for the First Time in All Good Things
—Kristen Stewart Pops Her Top Off in On the Road
—Uma Thurman Steals Dangerous Liaisons Out From Under Her More Famous Co-Stars
—Did They Really Kill a Chicken During That Infamous Pink Flamingos Sex Scene?
—A Naked Julie Michaels Kicks Keanu's Ass in Point Break
—Alexis Dziena Gives Aging Lothario Bill Murray an Eyeful in Broken Flowers
—P.J. Soles Establishes a Key Horror Movie Trope in John Carpenter's Halloween
—Can We Talk About Linnea Quigley's Barbie Doll Crotch in Return of the Living Dead?
—Innocent Blood Finds John Landis Trying to Get His American Werewolf Mojo Back
—The Insane Japanese Horror Movie House Features Equally Insane Nudity
—Howard Stern's Private Parts Lives Up to Its Titular Promise
—Neve Campbell Wastes No Time Making Her Nude Debut in When Will I Be Loved
—Amy Locane Gets Carried Away from Melrose Place to Bang Dennis Hopper
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Click Here to Read All Past Editions of Anatomy of a Nude Scene/Anatomy of a Scene's Anatomy
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