SHE WENT NUDE FOR BILL MURRAY
‘BROKEN Flowers,” Jim Jarmusch’s charming comedy, features Bill Murray, Sharon Stone, Julie Delpy and Tilda Swinton.
But the scene that has everybody talking stars a 20-ish (she won’t give her age) New York actress named Alexis Dziena.
Murray is Don Johnston, a ladies’ man who sets off on a journey to find the ex-girlfriend who sent him a disturbing letter about a 19-year-old son he knows nothing about.
One stop is the home of ex-lover Laura (Stone) and her sex-kitten daughter, Lolita (Dziena).
It’s here that the young woman provides brief but explicit nudity – front and back.
The scene lasts maybe 10 seconds, but it elicits gasps from audiences, not to mention hot buzz on the Internet.
So, Cine File asked Dziena, how did Bill Murray – the man, not the character – react to seeing so much of her?
“I can’t really answer,” she says with a girlish giggle. “Probably he was feeling whatever he portrayed on screen.”
And how did Dziena (pronounced Da-zeena) feel seeing herself naked on the big screen?
“My manager and my mom were sitting next to me, and I was biting my manager’s hand and putting my foot in my mom’s lap,” she confesses.
“Then it was over, and I said it wasn’t so bad. It’s a lot scarier in concept.”
Dziena spoke with Cine File from L.A., where she’s shooting an ABC-TV dramatic series, “Invasion,” debuting Sept. 21.
Her character: “The wild daughter of the local sheriff.”
Dziena used to be an item with Michael Pitt, the hunky actor who plays the Kurt Cobain character in “Last Days.”
They split up a year ago, “but we’re still friends.”
She has a new boyfriend, but doesn’t want to talk about him.
Dziena was born and raised in Manhattan, where she lives with her real-estate-selling mother.
In her spare time, the actress writes plays, paints and plays piano and cello.
She’s also learning drums. “I like it, but I don’t think my neighbors do.”
Oh, yes. The small tattoo we see on her butt in “Broken Flowers” was painted on just for the movie.
V.A. Musetto is film editor of The Post. He can be e-mailed at vam@nypost.com
1. The Poolside Fantasy - Phoebe Cates - Fast Times At Ridgemont High
Well, here it is, and what else - really - could have it have been? Phoebe Cates starred in a number of other things (the most famous of which is probably Gremlins), and yet this is the thing that she is remembered for beyond anything else. It's the iconic scene in Fast Times At Ridgemont High, of course, in which Judge Reinhart's character has a masturbation fantasy and dreams up this really sublime fantasy... It's hard to blame him for the thought; Cates is inarguably perfect as she climbs out of the swimming pool in slow-motion. The way that the scene unfolds on-screen - with her red swim suit unclasping from the middle - is a stroke of genius, to the point where said scene is often referred to as the greatest nude scene in all of cinema history. Cates hasn't really done any acting since 2001, of course, which further cements her as the person who is mostly remembered via this scene. If you say the words "Phoebe Cates" nowadays, this is - almost exclusively - what people think of. Nothing wrong with that - there are far worser things to be remembered for than being insanely sexy.
9. Room 237 - Lia Beldam - The Shining
The Shining isn't a particularly erotic movie; for one thing, its female lead is Shelley Duvall (no thanks), and then there's that really weird scene in which a man wearing a bear mask can be glimpsed giving another man oral sex (trust us: don't ask). There is one scene - thank God - that some would considered rather erotic, however, and it sees Jack Nicholson's crazed protagonist, Jack Torrance, stepping inside the elusive "Room 237" to find a beautiful naked woman soaking it up in the bathtub. As she offers herself over to Jack, though, she is suddenly transformed into a rotten old granny - a sure-fire way kill any feelings of arousal that were starring inside you. This is an iconic scene, though, and the actress who played the beautiful woman - model Lia Beldam - isn't known for doing anything much else as far as the movies are concerned, but was immortalised in this terrifying bait-and-switch styled moment.
7. The Steam Room - Barbara Nedeljáková & Jana Kaderabkova - Hostel
You've probably never heard of Barbara Nedeljáková and Jana Kaderabkova, but you'll certainly remember their faces - amongst other things. This beautiful pair featured in Eli Roth's iconic horror movie, Hostel, of course, playing two gorgeous sirens - Natalya and Svetlana - whose job is to lure unsuspecting backpackers to their doom. Though they're relentlessly wonderful to look at for the span of the movie, the most memorable scene in Hostel - and, indeed, the scene that the pair are best known for - occurs when heroes Paxton, Josh and Oli join them in the steam room. The girls are naked except for a couple of towels around their waists, and it's quite a sight to behold. Neither girl went on to establish a major film career, which means that they're mostly known (or only know, perhaps) for their nude scene in this film. Which is totally fine.
6. The Masked Ball - Julienne Davis - Eyes Wide Shut
Another Stanley Kubrick film, another actress famous for just one nude scene. This time it's the lovely Julienne Davis, who has appeared in very little else over the course of her career as an actress, but plays a crucial role in Stanley Kubrick's vastly underrated sex drama, which also stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. As Mandy, she acts as a friendly guide who tries to lead Cruise's troubled Dr. Bill Hartford out of danger during the infamous masked ball sequence. Said sequence - creepy as heck - features dozens and dozens of naked woman scattered about a large country manor, though Davis is by far the most prominently featured. Davis spends almost all of her screen-time in Eyes Wide Shut (across the span of one lengthy scene) either wearing a thong or nothing at all. Despite the fact that she can be seen wearing a mask in this particular scene, the reason as to why Kubrick picked her to star in his film couldn't be more obvious: she's absolutely stunning. Despite a lack of acting credits, Davis' iconic part in Eyes Wide Shut will ensure that she's still remembered in years to come.5. The Girl's Locker Room - Kaki Hunter - Porky's
Porky's, something of a precursor to the American Pie flicks, is not a particularly great movie. In fact, it has dated horribly and the jokes aren't very funny at all. That said, Porky's does contain one of the most famous nude scenes in the history of cinema - one that has rendered its most prominently featured actress as something of a minor icon for her involvement. That's to say, actress Kaki Hunter featured in a bunch of Porky's movies and nothing much else in the aftermath, which means that nowadays she's associated with them - and the act of getting naked - and that's about it, really. The scene in question involves a bunch of horny high school guys looking through a peep hole and into the girls' locker room as they shower (classic fantasy, that). Hunter retired from acting not long after she'd finished with Porky's and her character, Wendy Williams, which means that - to this day - she's best known as "the most prominently featured girl in the Porky's shower scene." How's that for a legacy?
4. "Take Off Your Clothes..." - Natasha Henstridge - Species
Natasha Henstridge has featured in over 20 movies since she first made her acting debut in Species, a horror sci-fi movie - and it's still the only movie that anyone really knows her for (unless you happened to watch Species II, but that's not advised). That's all to do with the fact that Species contains several brilliant moment of nudity (and one that presumably sent countless teenage boys into a frenzy), combined with the fact that she never really featured in anything quite so popular again. The plot is ridiculous, of course: a human/alien hybrid named Eve (that's Henstridge) sets out to multiple whilst she's pursued by government agents. The nude scene in question - and the one she's famous for - occurs when Henstridge takes off her bra and reveals her breasts just moments before she murders an unsuspecting victim. He asks her to get naked, she complies, and the poor chap has his face sucked off. Henstridge went on to take her kit off in 7 other movies, but - c'mon - nobody remembers her for anything other than this sexy scene in Species, do they?3. The Perfect Girl - Kelly Preston - Mischief
Nowadays, Kelly Preston is remembered for two things. The first: being married to John Travolta. The second: this scene from the 1985 movie Mischief, which sees the beautiful actress stripping down in a moment that literally couldn't be sexier if it tried. Honestly: faced with this scene, it's hard to imagine a woman more beautiful than Preston. As a film, Mischief is a minor work, clinging to a plot that sees two friends battling to win the affections of their desired crushes. In the movie, Preston plays Marilyn McCauley, the wonderful specimen pursued by Doug McKeon's clumsy protagonist, Jonathan. The defining highlight - without question, really - is this nude scene, one that is often singled out as one of the great moments of nudity in all of cinema history. For a lot of men, Preston was presumably the first fully nude girl they ever saw. Nowadays, chances are that most people think about this whenever Kelly Preston's name is mentioned. Better that than thoughts of her making love to John Travolta.
2. Jim's Room - Shannon Elizabeth - American Pie
Here it is. That scene. Is it all coming back to you now? There are those who might claim that actress Shannon Elizabeth is known for more than "that one scene in American Pie," but those people are - quite frankly - kidding themselves. To all but very few human beings on Earth, Elizabeth remains almost exclusively known for the scene in the iconic '90s comedy in which she turns up at protagonist Jim's house and proceeds to bare her breasts in an attempt to seduce him. It's an inherently funny scene, one that has fun with the idea that a teenager as beautiful as Nadia would really go for a dweeb that looked and acted like Jason Biggs ("Hey, it could happen: she's foreign!" is the movie's optimistic take on that) and the fact that Jim climaxes too early when Shannon Elizabeth forces his hand onto her private parts. Elizabeth has made appearances in lots of below average films ever since American Pie, but this nude scene is what she will be forever known for. And hey, given that said scene has given so much pleasure to so many, is that really such a bad thing?1. The Poolside Fantasy - Phoebe Cates - Fast Times At Ridgemont High
Well, here it is, and what else - really - could have it have been? Phoebe Cates starred in a number of other things (the most famous of which is probably Gremlins), and yet this is the thing that she is remembered for beyond anything else. It's the iconic scene in Fast Times At Ridgemont High, of course, in which Judge Reinhart's character has a masturbation fantasy and dreams up this really sublime fantasy... It's hard to blame him for the thought; Cates is inarguably perfect as she climbs out of the swimming pool in slow-motion. The way that the scene unfolds on-screen - with her red swim suit unclasping from the middle - is a stroke of genius, to the point where said scene is often referred to as the greatest nude scene in all of cinema history. Cates hasn't really done any acting since 2001, of course, which further cements her as the person who is mostly remembered via this scene. If you say the words "Phoebe Cates" nowadays, this is - almost exclusively - what people think of. Nothing wrong with that - there are far worser things to be remembered for than being insanely sexy.
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