29 Sexy Stars Dish on Nudity

"I've had my body manipulated so many different times for so many different reasons, whether it's paparazzi photographers or for film posters. That shoot was one of the ones where I said: 'OK, I'm fine doing the topless shot so long as you don't make them any bigger or retouch.' Because it does feel important to say it really doesn't matter what shape you are."

— On posing topless to protest Photoshop

"The penis is in there. It costs extra. It's IMAX penis! You have to pay 15 bucks to see it in 3D. It looks better in 3D. You should know it was very cold. . . . It was freezing. It was subzero."

— On his full-frontal scene in Gone Girl

"People have seen my butt. I've shown the top of my butt, the bottom of my butt. I'm not opposed to doing nudity, as long as it's part of the story. I'll do whatever has to get done if it's the right thing."

— On appearing fully nude for a film

"Actually, James Cameron has developed a program called Abatar. You just wear this motion-capture suit that has six balls on it, and in the scene you suddenly have muscles."

— On his nearly naked scenes in Crazy, Stupid, Love

"I don't mind nudity as long as it's necessary to the story. I mean it's a bit weird because you're like naked in a room full of strangers, but we started telling really sick jokes which helped."

— On her nude role in Closing the Ring

"Being naked was challenging, but even more than that was the vulnerability. I felt vulnerable because I was naked. I felt vulnerable because we were having such a vulnerable moment in this character's life. This was a real journey that someone had gone on, and I wanted to do right by that."

— On her full-frontal scenes in The Sessions

"To be honest, Albatross was naivete and not knowing that I could say no. I had no idea what was going to happen and thought I was going to be shot from behind. . . . If you're going to do a nude scene, be honest and natural. The idea that actresses would work out at the gym for a thousand hours before hand . . . I was drinking pints and eating burgers. But actually, it's not something I would do again."

— On her topless scene in Albatross

"I was a lot more nervous than I thought I was going to be. I looked at Kate and she was like, 'You've got to do it. Trust me, it's so brave. Put a merkin on and you'll be fine.'"

— On her Mildred Pierce costar Kate Winslet convincing her to do nudity

"From the start of my career, I've been naked. My first job was a commercial for SAS airlines. In the spot, I wake up in a pink room next to a beautiful blonde girl and get out of bed naked. From that point forward, it’s been in all of my contracts: He must be naked in this film."

— On his shameless typecasting

"At this point the crew is so bored by seeing me naked because it happens so much. At first there was like mild titillation, and now it's just like big ol' Italian guys checking their iPhones, acting like there isn't a pair of live breasts in the room."

— On her revealing sex scenes in Girls

"Normally I'd say no to nudity, but I just did a lot of it playing the long-term partner of Liberace, Scott Thorson, in Behind the Candelabra. I mean, it's tastefully done. Steven Soderbergh directed it, and Michael Douglas plays Liberace. But this movie's not going to be for everyone."

— On deciding to strip in a movie

"I think it depends on what the movie is. It felt like it would be gratuitous to do that in a movie like this and it would be more distracting from the movie and what was happening to the character. It would all be about, 'Oh, you're naked, so it's boobs onscreen,' so it would totally lose the fun and the empowering moment [my character], Linda, was having in that scene."

— On not showing her bare chest for Wanderlust

"This is a guy who obviously likes to share a lot of things in his life. So he's just up there, sharing his cookies, making sure everybody has a good time."

— On his stripper character in Magic Mike

"I've never been comfortable with the idea of nudity . . . When it came to this, it just seemed so obvious that she is the sort of person who would have no trouble being naked in front of any family member, especially not her brother . . . I thought I had a week before the nude scene to go to the gym, but we shot it on my first day of filming."

— On her nude scene in Shame

"I think it's always a competition with guys, especially when you gotta be naked and letting it all out if you know what I mean. . . . Guys look like fools in their underwear walking around and trying to be sexy on stage naked."

— On male competition while shooting Magic Mike

"It's funny because usually it's the girl who's naked. I was like, 'That's right, b*tch. The tables are turned!'"

— On her Going the Distance costar Justin Long's bare butt scene

"He was sitting at the end of the bed, and he had no clothes on whatsoever. I was getting out of the shower, and I just stood there looking at him. He was all tan. Has all those tattoos, which I love. Hadn't done his hair. He just naturally looks good all the time. He never looks like sh*t in the morning. Never. So he's sitting there sending his e-mails, all ripped. Not an ounce of fat on him. And I thought, you done good, girl. I sure wasn't thinking of his high-pitched voice."

— On her hubby David Beckham's redeeming qualities

"If the world wouldn't persecute me, I'd take nude pictures every day of the week."

— On loving her body

"I know my best angles."

— On her leaked nude photo scandal

"I just get naked. That's what I do."

— On his Playgirl shoot

Daniel: "It was a 10-minute nude scene. I was 17 when I did that first. I did it in England, where the age of consent is 16."
Craig Ferguson: "So you can be naked on stage at 17 in England?"
Daniel: "If you're stupid enough, yeah."

— On his revealing Equus stage performance

"I feel like actors are tools to help the story, and if [nudity is] part of the story in an effective way, then it just is. If it's sensationalized and gratuitous, I don't want to do it. In this film, it has a very clear purpose of someone losing their full sense of self-identity and ownership of herself and her body and her mind."

— On her nudity in Martha Marcy May Marlene

"Having been a fan of the show, you know you're going to be naked at some point. I will say that I was welcomed into the brotherhood of the sock. When you're naked on the show, you have to wear a sock, and it's not on your foot."

— On taking it all off on True Blood

"I had to get dressed for the shots. But when we weren't shooting, I was hanging brain, as it were."

— On his naked downtime while shooting Wanderlust

"I trusted everyone and the lighting was beautiful. I didn't work out beforehand, it was all very natural. I don't have any real body issues. I never really overeat, I shed weight in the summer, put it on in the winter and yes, I do have big boobs. People don't realize because I cover up a lot, but they are there. Big boobs."

— On getting naked in Melancholia

"I tell you, you get your penis out once, and everyone expects it in the rest of your movies. I mean, I will guarantee that by the end of my career, I will show it at least one more time."

— On his full-frontal breakup scene in Forgetting Sarah Marshall

"I was terrified, but I really wanted to do a naked cover — especially with Shape, because the magazine is about loving yourself inside and out."

— On her nude Shape Magazine cover

"Yeah, my mom's gonna go see it, absolutely. My mom's seen my ass my whole life. It's OK, I can shake it in front of her, it's fine."

— On his family watching him strip in Magic Mike

"That was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. Because I wasn't wearing underwear, I was wearing what's called a dance belt. The key word there is belt, because there's as little material there as a belt. I don't know who dances in these things. There's no way your balls would stay in it."

— On his nude scene on Community