A few words before we begin:
I’m using the word ‘actor’ in the gender neutral sense; either male or female performers are eligible.
Obviously I can’t stop anybody, but anybody who suggests Miley Cyrus should do Playboy is rather skeevy, so if we could keep that level of skeeviness over with Hugh Hefner, that’d be great.
Opal! Where have you been?
I think Lindsay Lohan would be seriously damaged by a nude scene. It would further the perception of her as a slutty skank, it would be seen as a cry for attention from her, and her appearance would be soundly mocked and ridiculed, seeing as how she looks 40 and she’s only 21.
Haven’t seen Drea de Matteo (Adriana) much since The Sopranos or she’s always in a peripheral role. I believe a tasteful topless scene would skyrocket her career and get her starring roles. (Or maybe it’s just wishful thinking on my part.)
[evil jackass mode]
Perhaps Lindsey should do one anyone and keep it locked up, so we can appreciate her nude body after her death next year.
[/ejm]
The good thing about this joke is you can substitute “britney spears” and it still makes sense.
Michelle Trachtenberg needs to make an indie film in which she gets nekkid. Repeatedly. Time to get serious about things.
Perhaps she could eat a cookie first.
And by “a” cookie I mean “4.”
And by “cookie” I mean “slice of cheesecake.”
And by “first” I mean once a month, every month, until her ribs are no longer visible."
And by “perhaps she could eat 4 slices of cheesecake once a month every month until her ribs are no longer visible,” I mean "you’re kidding about Michelle Trachtenberg, right? Right? I mean, she’s what, 12?
None of them. I think this obsession with wanting nudity in mainstream movies should be curtailed.
Given the thread title, your response can be parsed as “no current actor would be either helped or hurt by doing a nude scene.” I point this out because I’m a jerk.
Well, all of them will be hurt if it’s done in the US. None if it’s done in Europe.
12 pounds, you mean? Nah, she’s up to at least 15 by now.
BTW, she’s 22. Don’t you feel old? 
She’s older that Mrs. Rhymer. No answer I can give is safe.
::flees::
I think anything short of a prolonged full-frontal nude shot gets a pass in the US. Hell, Jennifer Connelly did nude double dildo anal lesbian sex in “Requiem for a Dream” (shot in a 1/4 second montage, but hey, that’s what the “pause” and “slow” buttons are FOR) and it didn’t hurt her … a year or two afterward, she got an Oscar for “A Beautiful Mind.”
Did Jennifer Anniston lose any public respect for showing her butt in that godawful movie with Vince Vaughn? I think not! I mean, she’s lost a lot of respect, but that’s for appearing in a long string of godawful movies.
And even that isn’t necessarily a career killer. In the film “Intimacy,” Mark Rylance takes part in an explicit non-simulated sex scene and just last week he was nominated for a Best Actor Tony award. Yes it was an independent film, but it got a lot of notice at the time of it’s release, and he is still known as a very respected Shakespearean actor.
Neither Kathy Bates nor James Gandolfini would do themselves any favors with nude scenes.
Hmmm… the Olsen twins? Um, in certain circles, er, twins, ummm… could make a lot of money!
If Ryan Reynolds would do an extended nude scene it would help ME…
Viggo Mortensen did a nude fight scene in Eastern Promises and I believe he got an Oscar Nomination for it so it certainly didn’t hurt him. Although I do think a nude fight scene would have hurt in some way.
The sad thing is, in one of her upcoming movies she actually IS doing a (I think) full-frontal nude scene. Don’t have the cite on hand but I remember reading it somewhere. And I remember the responses to the article were stuff like “it’s not like we haven’t seen it all already.”
I always had a postulate that women actresses had to bare their breasts first in a completely unnecessary way and then in an artistic way for it to help their careers. My best example is Halle Berry. She did a completely unnecessary breast-baring scene in Swordfish, which also was a completely unnecessary and bad movie. She later then bared it all in a more serious movie, Monster’s Ball, and got an Oscar for it.
Why yes, I was a teenager a few years ago, why do you ask?
I don’t have an Actual Contribution at this moment; just wanted to remember the scene Harvey Keitel did “Piano.” I have never been more surprised by nudity that I was in that scene. An older guy suddenly bare-butt just knocked me over! It did nothing to hurt his career, that I have noticed.
Lindsay Lohan already did a nude pictorial in which she recreated some of Marylin Monroe’s famous shots.
All in all, it was pretty “meh” with a dose of “she should have done that before she coked out her body and was still a redhead.”
Natalie Portman
Allyson Hannigan
I don’t know if it would help them, but it would help me!