Mary Steenburgen revealed that she was worried about having to appear completely naked in the film. "In a scene, I'm at a strip joint and I quit. I rip off what I'm wearing, throw it in the air, and walk naked out of the place. The night before the scene, I thought, 'Who is going to be there tomorrow? There's going to be a skeleton crew.' I didn't sleep that night, but I thought I was prepared for what was going to happen. I had totally forgotten there were going to be about sixty guys - extras from Central Casting - sitting around. I did it OK for about the first eight times, but I started to lose it. I was becoming upset because these guys kept making comments. I called Malcolm [Malcolm McDowell, her then real-life husband], and he said,'Listen, you've done it. You have already put it on film. Do it one more time, and just try and do it real well.' I had lost sight of that. I was so busy worrying about my clothes I had forgotten about the moment of it. I knew it was a moment of bravery and freedom, and he reminded me of that. So I went back and I did it really well. As I walked out, I flipped off the construction hat of the guy at the bar and I waved goodbye to all the other dancers on the stage. That is the one they used," Steenburgen recalled. (IMDb)
In the original full screen version of the film you can see her bush as she walks away but in the later widesceen versions they zoomed in to hide the bush
I often read in the comments someone who wonders what teenage boys feel about seeing nude scenes of their moms. Charles McDowell (son of Mary Steenburgen and Malcolm McDowell) told it in his book 'Dear Girls Above Me':
"The sexually aroused teenage boy in me wanted to turn around to catch a glimpse of a woman's naked body , but I was equally ex- hausted and didn't want to give Israel the satisfaction of being in- terested in what he had found . So I continued to stare at the wall as projections of light danced and mocked my stubborn decision. What if he had come across something really great ? It would be a disservice to me , and mankind , to not even look and see the type of porn Israel had discovered . Maybe just a peek ? As I turned my body over and locked eyes with television, I realized I was looking directly at my abslolute worst nightmare....
My own mother , naked on - screen . It was the movie Melvin and Howard , which she won an Oscar for , but it would now become infamously renowned as the movie that caused the death of her only son . A medley of so many horribly disturbing emotions took over my dumbfounded body. I was like a deer in the headlights; the only difference was that I was begging fot the TV to drive off the wall and put me out of my misery. Not to mention the most appalling part of all of this was that my best friend was on the floor aroused, with no idea that the figure arousing him was my mother at the innocent age of twenty-seven.
"Israel!?"
"I knew you'd be thanking me," he said coyly , which only made me want to direct the vomit that was seconds away from projecting out of my mouth on his stupid face . " That's my mom ! " He slowed down his stroking movements in disbelief . " What - that's not - wait, how is that - okay, is that your mom?"
"Yes, stop masturbating to her!" Tears began to stream.
It took me a while to fall asleep that night. The image-that-must-not-be-named was still burning up my mind like the Chicago fire. So when I tell you I chuckled at Cathy's complaining about Chad's looking at pictures of her mom taken during a family cruise, you know understand why I think such a concern it is a joke. Try walking a mile in my Ninja Turtle sleeping bag."
Mary Steenburgen revealed that she was worried about having to appear completely naked in the film. "In a scene, I'm at a strip joint and I quit. I rip off what I'm wearing, throw it in the air, and walk naked out of the place. The night before the scene, I thought, 'Who is going to be there tomorrow? There's going to be a skeleton crew.' I didn't sleep that night, but I thought I was prepared for what was going to happen. I had totally forgotten there were going to be about sixty guys - extras from Central Casting - sitting around. I did it OK for about the first eight times, but I started to lose it. I was becoming upset because these guys kept making comments. I called Malcolm [Malcolm McDowell, her then real-life husband], and he said,'Listen, you've done it. You have already put it on film. Do it one more time, and just try and do it real well.' I had lost sight of that. I was so busy worrying about my clothes I had forgotten about the moment of it. I knew it was a moment of bravery and freedom, and he reminded me of that. So I went back and I did it really well. As I walked out, I flipped off the construction hat of the guy at the bar and I waved goodbye to all the other dancers on the stage. That is the one they used," Steenburgen recalled. (IMDb)
And she was so straight-laced in Time After Time.
In the original full screen version of the film you can see her bush as she walks away but in the later widesceen versions they zoomed in to hide the bush
I often read in the comments someone who wonders what teenage boys feel about seeing nude scenes of their moms. Charles McDowell (son of Mary Steenburgen and Malcolm McDowell) told it in his book 'Dear Girls Above Me': "The sexually aroused teenage boy in me wanted to turn around to catch a glimpse of a woman's naked body , but I was equally ex- hausted and didn't want to give Israel the satisfaction of being in- terested in what he had found . So I continued to stare at the wall as projections of light danced and mocked my stubborn decision. What if he had come across something really great ? It would be a disservice to me , and mankind , to not even look and see the type of porn Israel had discovered . Maybe just a peek ? As I turned my body over and locked eyes with television, I realized I was looking directly at my abslolute worst nightmare.... My own mother , naked on - screen . It was the movie Melvin and Howard , which she won an Oscar for , but it would now become infamously renowned as the movie that caused the death of her only son . A medley of so many horribly disturbing emotions took over my dumbfounded body. I was like a deer in the headlights; the only difference was that I was begging fot the TV to drive off the wall and put me out of my misery. Not to mention the most appalling part of all of this was that my best friend was on the floor aroused, with no idea that the figure arousing him was my mother at the innocent age of twenty-seven. "Israel!?" "I knew you'd be thanking me," he said coyly , which only made me want to direct the vomit that was seconds away from projecting out of my mouth on his stupid face . " That's my mom ! " He slowed down his stroking movements in disbelief . " What - that's not - wait, how is that - okay, is that your mom?" "Yes, stop masturbating to her!" Tears began to stream. It took me a while to fall asleep that night. The image-that-must-not-be-named was still burning up my mind like the Chicago fire. So when I tell you I chuckled at Cathy's complaining about Chad's looking at pictures of her mom taken during a family cruise, you know understand why I think such a concern it is a joke. Try walking a mile in my Ninja Turtle sleeping bag."
Nice Harry Twatter Mary.