Best Movie Stripteases
10 stars who took it all off with style
The scenes below are not just about disrobing: there’s an emotional element to the act, which makes it so thoroughly human. Whether motivated by a dare, money, revenge or simply to prove a point, getting brazenly naked has its rewards, for the characters onscreen and for us, watching in the audience.
Stephen “Twitch” Boss in Magic Mike XXL (2015)
“You can behold all the beauty you want right here,” says Rome (Jada Pinkett Smith), the madam of a male-stripper wonderland. In case we doubted this claim, she summons the truly beautiful Malik (Boss), who twerks and twitches his chiseled body around the floor like a man possessed in a raw and wild performance that has to be seen to be believed.
Gwen Welles in Nashville (1975)
In one of Robert Altman’s wildest scenes, the wannabe country star Sueleen (Welles) is forced to strip after her off-key singing fails to charm an intimidating all-male crowd. Once the clothes come off, it’s clear that when a bad pair of lungs don’t deliver, a different kind of pair altogether can succeed in a pinch. The strip is humiliating to Sueleen, but ultimately she gets what she bargained for: a chance to perform in front of a large political rally at the Parthenon the next day.
Christopher Walken in Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Never expected to find Walken on a list like this? Neither did we until we spotted him in this twisted ’80s extravaganza. By playing a flamboyant, Depression-era pimp who likes to strut, tap and strip his lithe and lean body down to his drawers, Walken shows exactly what the Cole Porter song “Let’s Misbehave” is all about.
Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies (1994)
Secret agent Harry Tasker (Arnold Schwarzenegger) might be more than meets the eye, but his bookish wife, Helen (Curtis), is way more. Underneath that boxy skirt-suit is a killer bod that’s toned, powerful and just dying to break out. Despite her initial hesitance to strip, once Helen starts moving those g-string-wrapped hips, you don’t ever want her to stop.
Natalie Portman in Closer (2004)
It’s easy to see why director Mike Nichols opted for a circular backroom to shoot this scene about philandering spouses: Alice (Portman) looks good from all 360 angles, and Clive Owen is attracted to all of them. Though Portman has an extensive body of work to exhibit her range as an actor, this role, above all others, shows us just how flexible she really is.
Michael Ontkean in Slap Shot (1977)
In a classic sports movie that skewers the sweaty, sleazy and garish world of semi-pro hockey, Ned Braden (Ontkean) skates on to center ice and—with the grace of a seasoned burlesque dancer and figure skater—strips down to nothing but a threadbare jockstrap. Thanks to Ned’s silly yet sensual performance, we now know that the only thing sexier than a proper striptease is one that is done on ice. In the words of Braden’s incorrigible player-coach Reggie Dunlap (Paul Newman): “Way to go, Ned. Way to go.”
Demi Moore in Striptease (1996)
If Moore has aged well, this scene has aged better: Two decades later, her hard, marble-cut body rubbing and gyrating against that soft, fluffy black boa still makes you want to reach for more than just your wallet.
Alex Pettyfer in Magic Mike (2012)
“Just start taking your clothes off.” That’s the only instruction the novice Adam (Pettyfer) receives from ringleader Dallas (Matthew McConaughey) before being thrust out on to the stage to strip. And that’s pretty much all he does. Yes, his performance has all of the awkwardness of a first time, but it has all of the excitement as well. It’s the thrill of discovery: Adam has a marketable talent he didn’t know he had.
Cybill Shepherd in The Last Picture Show (1971)
With the exception of Jacy (Shepherd) and her big baby blues, there isn’t much to get excited about in this bleak, wistful, gut-wrenching movie about small-town Texas in the early ’50s. In her pivotal strip scene at a naked pool party, Jacy, an uptight, spoiled ingénue, silently deflowers herself in front of us, one little cotton petal at a time. Like any other big, beautiful and destructive inferno: you just can’t look away.
Kim Basinger in 9½ Weeks (1986)
Though Elizabeth (Basinger) puts on quite a show for John (Mickey Rourke), her Svengali in erotic arts, what makes this routine special is not the just the titillation it grants the viewer, but the reciprocal thrill it gives the stripper. If the twinkle in her eye, the flash of her smile or the sheer excitement poking through her satin slip is any indication, Elizabeth is getting as much out of this as we are.
