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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, we salute the late, great Tanya Roberts and her Hall of Fame nudity in two PG flicks of the 80s, Sheena and The Beastmaster!
Back in November, when the Barbarian classic The Beastmaster hit 4K Blu-ray, I thought it would be great to do an article covering Tanya Roberts' nude scene in that film as well as her nude scene in Sheena in the near future. Things took a turn for the tragic on January 3 when news came out stating that actress had passed away after being hospitalized in late December. The ensuing 36 hours were a real rollercoaster of misinformation, retractions, and just general confusion.
Roberts' partner Lance O'Brien learned during an interview on January 4 that Roberts was not dead, only for him to once again report several hours later that Roberts had indeed passed away. We wanted to honor Tanya, but the news cycle seemed to happen so quickly that the time never felt right. Since she is now officially no longer with us, it felt appropriate to salute those two incredible nude scenes that gave lots of kids born in the late 70s and early 80s their first look at a nude woman.
The PG rating is now mostly obsolete for anything outside of family films, but those 16 glorious years when it was the only thing standing between a film being rated either G or R, a lot of racy content got overlooked. Nudity isn't necessarily prevalent in PG films made between 1968 and 1984, when the PG-13 was introduced, but it's certainly much more commonplace than it is now. In fact, now it's virtually impossible to see bare breasts in PG-13 movies, let alone ones with a PG rating. Sure you'll catch a bare bun here or there, but nudity like Tanya Roberts did in the PG rated Beastmaster and Sheena could now only exist in an R-rated film.
Hot off of a season spent as one of Charlie's Angels when she was selected to replace the departing Shelley Hack, Tanya' profile couldn't have been higher when Phantasm director Don Coscarelli cast her as the female lead in his follow-up film, 1982's The Beastmaster. The dirty blonde beauty dyed her hair red to play Kiri, the niece of overthrown but benevolent King Zed, whose lineage was ended when his only son was killed by the madman Maax (Rip Torn). Or so they all thought, as the son survived and grew up to become the muscle-bound Dar (Marc Singer) who is hell bent on revenge and, as the film's title demonstrates, can telepathically communicate with animals like a hunky barbarian Doctor Dolittle.
Kiri is, unfortunately, your run of the mill love interest, but Roberts' performance is much savvier than one might expect, despite not being lauded by many contemporary critics. Roberts trained at the famed Actor's Studio with such luminaries as Lee Strasberg and Uta Hagen, meaning that she brings a different sort of preparation to these roles than one might think. If she studied under these people and bought into their method, Roberts most assuredly did her homework for every role she played. And yes, I get that we're here to talk about her nudity, but it truly never hurts to appreciate the actress actually doing the nude scene.
The first time we see Roberts' Kiri in the film is the first time Singer's Dar sees her, just past the thirty minute mark, bathing nude with one of her handmaidens...
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Next to Caddyshack and Quest for Fire, this was one of the first nude scenes I remember seeing and it's every bit as vivid in my imagination as it is in actuality. The film itself wasn't a hit, but it gained traction on cable and the burgeoning VHS market, eventually working its way up to cult classic status. Roberts also shot a Playboy pictorial to accompany the film's release, though that didn't boost the film's profile enough to make it profitable. Roberts didn't take time to dwell on the film's disappointing returns as she was off making a bunch of other flicks before landing her first leading role in 1984!
Released literally one week after the PG-13 rating debuted with the release of John Milius' Red Dawn, Sheena: Queen of the Jungle was based on Will Eisner and Jerry Iger's 1938 comic book creation of the same name. The film took over a decade to come to the screen, with the first sincere efforts being launched in 1974. In 1980, the project landed at Columbia Pictures with Bo Derek floated as a potential leading lady. By the time a script came into being, Derek's star had begun to wane and such other B-movie babes were floated as potential leads like Conan's Sandahl Bergman, Chained Heat's Sybil Danning, model Christie Brinkley, and fellow former AngelCheryl Ladd.
When she heard about the project, however, Roberts became bound and determined to land the leading role. Director John Guillermin, who had made The Towering Inferno and 1976's King Kong remake, put her through the wringer to secure the role but was confident he made the right choice. In a pair of interviews with Steve Swires of Starlog Magazine in 1984, Roberts revealed that her casting process didn't involve any of those big names, but rather a group of about 15 models, giving her confidence she would land the role...
"They were very beautiful, but they couldn't act. Their tests were horrendous— they couldn't cry, they couldn't shout, they couldn't do anything...I felt very confident about getting the role. I have been in this business for 14 years, and have paid a lot of dues. I know what I'm capable of. I was the only one who could act, who looked right, who could do the stunts. I tested again in a blonde wig, and I got the part."
Following a brief fully nude shower under a waterfall at the 18 minute mark, Roberts spends a solid minute and a half nude chatting with co-star Ted Wass 54 minutes in...
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Again, that's just the sort of thing you don't see in PG films these days. The film's bloated production budget of $25 million more or less prevented it from being a hit in theaters, as it was saddled with too much bad publicity for its out of control production spending, earning only a quarter of its cost at the box office. As a result, Roberts earned one of five Golden Raspberry (or Razzie) nominations bestowed upon the film and it remained a punchline for years. Over time, however, the film's expert craftsmanship and solid leading performance by Roberts have turned it into a cult classic.
Roberts followed up Sheena by becoming a Bond girl in the mostly disappointing final outing from Roger Moore, A View to a Kill. Following a decade-plus of wallowing in softcore pay cable and direct to video flicks, Roberts got something of a career revival when she was cast to play Laura Prepon's mother on That 70s Show in 1998. She retired from acting in 2005, caring for her husband in his final years and keeping a relatively low profile in terms of her personal life. We'll genuinely miss her and hope that the years only add to her growing legion of fans!
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Catch up with our most recent editions of Anatomy of a Nude Scene
—Sarah Silverman is Seriously Sexy (and Topless) in I Smile Back
—Jessica Chastain's Nude Debut in Salomé Takes Director Al Pacino Over a Decade to Finish
—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
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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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