A Few Thoughts On Nudity
When I was given the audition for Spartacus, the very first question I was asked was if I was okay with doing nudity. My initial reaction was to say, "No!" But I asked the Producer what sort of nudity was being done on Spartacus and why was it being done. Was it simply to titillate and for shock or was there a deeper motivation behind those scenes?
The answer I was given was that the nudity was based on a strong desire for historical accuracy first and also as an effort to "push the envelope" along with the graphic violence and relationships in the story. This was certainly a good answer, but I still wasn't sold. I'm really a shy person and am not in the habit of running around skimpily dressed and I'm especially unused to getting naked in front of a roomful of strangers. So the Producer sent me the trailer to view so I could see some of the finished product and make an informed decision.
As soon as the trailer started I knew that Spartacus was a show that I wanted to be a part of. I loved the cinematography, the direction, the acting and the overall feel of the show. I loved the lighting and the atmosphere and was struck by how everyone looked gorgeous whether they were high society or a slave. It was the kind of series that I would watch whether or not I was in it, and if I wasn't in it, I knew it was the kind of show that I would be dying to audition for. But I was still nervous about the entire nudity issue. I had never done it before in my career and wasn't sure if I was willing to do it now. So I went back to the producer we had a little chat. He assured me that everything was being shot so as to get the best angles with the best lighting, and was being handled in the most tasteful and artistic way in order to guarantee that the scenes were high quality and artistic rather than what you would see in late night "soft core porn." Then he said the key words that finally sold me on the idea, "The men are as equally naked and exposed as the women."
So with the blessing of my parents and a word of encouragement and support from my fiancé, I went ahead and accepted the role of Mira on Spartacus.
In the show, one of my favorite scenes is the one where Ilithyia decides that she wants to see Crixus naked in order to "accurately gauge his worth" and, with the help of Batiatus, Crixus is ordered to drop his subligaria. Ilithyia (fully dressed) then proceeds to circle around Crixus (devoid of all clothing and in a straight on wide shot, which is the MOST unflattering angle for ANY person to stand naked in) and eyes him up and down like he is a sticky piece of caramel chocolate. On a selfish note, it was great to see the roles reversed for once and to have the man be the one being marginalized. I thought that was surprisingly daring. Usually the man has the power while the woman stands bare and helpless before him, but not so on Spartacus. However, from an acting point of view, I am so incredibly proud of Manu (the actor who plays Crixus) for being as brave and as dedicated to his craft as he was. What a tremendously vulnerable situation to allow yourself to be in, and he looked great doing it! (must have been the lighting ;-) )
From firsthand experience, I know that standing naked before a camera with the knowledge that you are about to put it ALL out there for the world to judge is a scary endeavor. Outside of standup comedy, it is easily the scariest thing I have ever done, and I've jumped out of planes, white water rafted class five rivers and SCUBA dived below 157 feet. In other words, I don't scare easily.
In my first episode I had a total of six scenes, and out of those six scenes, four of them were nude scenes. I distinctly remember finally getting a full script and, after reading it and realizing what I had gotten myself into, I just sat in my trailer for a few minutes and willed myself to breathe normally; not to panic. Then I jumped on my phone and unloaded all my fears and insecurities to my fiancé for the next hour. He's good at talking me off of ledges.
Luckily for me (whether or not this was intentional, I'll never know) my shooting schedule kind of eased me gently into the mix. My first shot on Spartacus was the one where the slave girls are all wearing various white masks. Yes, I was naked, but I was surrounded by other women who were just as naked and the two featured actors in the scene were Lucy Lawless and Brook Harmon. It was a closed set (which means only necessary crew and no guests allowed) so I felt relatively safe and somewhat invisible.
The entire crew and camera department were great. By this point in their shooting schedule it was already Month Six into production and by then they had seen and done it all. I think they were interested in the 'new girl' for about half a second before they got bored and moved on. They had also perfected the art of only looking when they needed to and looking at the floor, wall, or ceiling the rest of the time. Everyone was extremely respectful and the wardrobe department was very protective, trying to cover up all the girls as soon as possible whenever the cameras stopped rolling.
My second scene was the bath house scene with Lucretia and Naevia. By this point I had decided that "Merkin" (the name for the fake wig of hair used to both create a historically accurate nether region and to protect an actress from unwanted exposure while also ensuring that there is no actual physical contact) was an ugly and awkward word. So I named mine Priscilla. As crazy as it seems, tiny little Priscilla made me feel like I had on a bit of clothing and, thus, a little bit of protection from the world.
Without question the bath house scene was the hardest for me to do. I remember the director telling me that they were going to shot from straight on and I thought, "But what about the best angles? Straight on is a terrible angle and quite possibly the least flattering out of all the angles! What about triangles? Or how about an angle that happens to be located behind a plant or shoots through gauze? Shouldn't this scene be shot entirely with the lights off??" Instead of whining though, I just channeled all of my fear, insecurities, and anxiety about the nudity into the emotions my character would naturally be feeling in the scene and left it in the hands of the director.
After going through all of that, when I finally got to my scenes with Andy (Spartacus), it was a breeze.
In the end, I viewed the entire situation as if I was jumping into a freezing cold river. I just had to quit crying, "man up" and do it. I had to put all of my faith and trust into Michael Hurst (director for Episode 9), the crew, my cast mates, the producers, the writers, the editors and most importantly of all, the camera men. And from what I saw when I watched Episode 9, I am glad I did. Though my mom did think it was strange to see me that naked considering that I was six years old the last time she had seen me like that.
Katrina Law is an American actress of German, Italian and Taiwanese descent originally from New Jersey, USA. Ever since she was a child growing up in South Jersey, Katrina Law had more energy than she knew what to do with. Her mother (being the brilliant mother that she is) recognized this at an early age and enrolled Katrina in a variety of activities ranging from dance and gym classes to karate lessons, soccer practice and voice coaching. You name the activity and Katrina’s mother probably had her try it at least once. When she graduated high school her yearbook was filled with photos of her on the Varsity Track team, Varsity Soccer Team, Varsity Cheerleading Squad and even the Varsity Weightlifting Team. She was also a member of The National Honors Society and won the title of Miss New Jersey Teen USA where she went on to represent the state at finals on national television.
This eccentric collection of interests and activities, combined with her exotic physical appearance usually means that the first question people as her is, “What are you?”
What she is, to answer their question, is a typical small town American Girl. Her parents met during the Vietnam War; her father being a Catholic of German and Italian decent serving in the U.S. armed forces and her mother a Buddhist living in Taiwan, working as a bartender. This combination of cultures learning to live in harmony under one roof taught Katrina tolerance, patience, understanding, and humor as a child and still guides her to this day.
After graduating with a Theater degree from The Richard Stockton College of NJ, Katrina’s acting education continued on in the big cities of Philadelphia and New York. There she not only deepened her understanding of acting as an art form, but she also sharpened her teeth on the business of acting. In New York City she earned her S.A.G. eligibility on the set of Numbers with Nora Ephron and John Travolta and finally joined S.A.G. when she booked a Guest Star on NY’s “The Third Watch”. Since then she has gone on to act in many exciting projects including a three episode arc as the Mord’Sith “Garen” in Legend of the Seeker and as the series regular “Mira” in the hit new show Spartacus: Blood and Sand.
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Anne Hathaway sex scene compilation
Anne Hathaway Sex Scene - watch more funny videos
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Servings of '90s nostalgia and naughty comedy in American Pie: Reunion
by KARL R. De MESA May 7, 2012
There’s a school of comedy filmmaking that relies heavily on the American Pie formula, especially the string of spin-offs and spoofs that followed in the wake of the original. I, for one, loved the first AP and the brand of rude, hound dog humor that put its cast in many an enjoyably mortifying situation.We open with Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) as a married couple with two kids: a son and a baby. They’re also in a deep sexual rut, made evident by how Jim loads a slutty college co-eds video on his laptop after Michelle exits to take a bath. Unfortunately, his two-year-old catches him spanking the monkey in bed and, in the panic that ensues, the laptop’s lid snags his privates and he catches Michelle pleasuring herself in the bath tub with the shower head.
That pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the movie, dated thirteen years after these characters graduated. Still, the gang is all here and all of them have, more or less, not been living the life they thought they would.
A bearded Kevin Myers (Thomas Ian Nicholas) is a stay-at-home husband and architect, foul-mouthed jock Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott) is a temp secretary at an investment firm, Paul Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) is an assistant manager at a Staples branch (though he pretends to be a world-weary bohemian explorer at the start), Heather (Mena Suvari) is a nurse who is dating a heart surgeon, and good girl blonde Vicky (Tara Reid) is doing, er, something not specifically mentioned or so vaguely unimportant the writers forgot to pencil it into the dialogue.
Only Chris "Oz" Ostreicher (Chris Klein) seems to be enjoying a level of success as an L.A.-based NFL sportscaster and dating a very hot supermodel named Mia (Katrina Bowden). Problem is, Oz doesn’t relish the decadent B-list lifestyle and he pines for something missing in his life.
They all come together again when East Great Falls high school has a "Class of 1999" reunion. It’s there that the fun begins, abetted by a relentlessly nostalgic '90s heavy soundtrack.
Aside from the svelte Katrina Bowden, one of the brightest spots in the movie is Entourage’s Dania Ramirez as Selena--Michelle’s ex-band camp buddy. There's also the young Kara (Ali Cobrin, a dead ringer for Shirri Appleby, the object of alien affection in the '90s sci-fi series Roswell), the kid that Jim used to babysit who's now a very nubile and very beautiful girl about to turn eighteen.
Some of the greatest laughs are centered around Jim and Kara’s attraction for each other, exacerbated by Kara’s jealous jock boyfriend who proceeds to piss off Stifler and Co very quickly. Indeed, one of the best reasons to watch this movie is Cobrin’s amazing comeliness and how she plays well even if it’s as a ditzy teen virgin, or as Jim’s potential one night stand. The fact that Cobrin spends almost half her screen time topless just adds to her role as the new apple pie of many a boy’s sockets, who may just now be discovering the many pleasures of the AP franchise.
So this movie really isn’t short on laughs, especially at the start, where they are genuine and organic and executed well. The fact that the skits are gross, inappropriate. and of a sexual nature is a comforting sign that the filmmakers tried to stay true to the tone of the series.
A bearded Kevin Myers (Thomas Ian Nicholas) is a stay-at-home husband and architect, foul-mouthed jock Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott) is a temp secretary at an investment firm, Paul Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) is an assistant manager at a Staples branch (though he pretends to be a world-weary bohemian explorer at the start), Heather (Mena Suvari) is a nurse who is dating a heart surgeon, and good girl blonde Vicky (Tara Reid) is doing, er, something not specifically mentioned or so vaguely unimportant the writers forgot to pencil it into the dialogue.
Only Chris "Oz" Ostreicher (Chris Klein) seems to be enjoying a level of success as an L.A.-based NFL sportscaster and dating a very hot supermodel named Mia (Katrina Bowden). Problem is, Oz doesn’t relish the decadent B-list lifestyle and he pines for something missing in his life.
They all come together again when East Great Falls high school has a "Class of 1999" reunion. It’s there that the fun begins, abetted by a relentlessly nostalgic '90s heavy soundtrack.
Aside from the svelte Katrina Bowden, one of the brightest spots in the movie is Entourage’s Dania Ramirez as Selena--Michelle’s ex-band camp buddy. There's also the young Kara (Ali Cobrin, a dead ringer for Shirri Appleby, the object of alien affection in the '90s sci-fi series Roswell), the kid that Jim used to babysit who's now a very nubile and very beautiful girl about to turn eighteen.
Some of the greatest laughs are centered around Jim and Kara’s attraction for each other, exacerbated by Kara’s jealous jock boyfriend who proceeds to piss off Stifler and Co very quickly. Indeed, one of the best reasons to watch this movie is Cobrin’s amazing comeliness and how she plays well even if it’s as a ditzy teen virgin, or as Jim’s potential one night stand. The fact that Cobrin spends almost half her screen time topless just adds to her role as the new apple pie of many a boy’s sockets, who may just now be discovering the many pleasures of the AP franchise.
So this movie really isn’t short on laughs, especially at the start, where they are genuine and organic and executed well. The fact that the skits are gross, inappropriate. and of a sexual nature is a comforting sign that the filmmakers tried to stay true to the tone of the series.
In places, it’s also gotten better at handling the painful transition to responsible adulthood and the loss of youth. One of the most genuinely touching moments is when Stifler and Jim’s dad (now a lonely widower) do shots and proceed to get tipsy since everybody’s off trying to get laid again—consequently forgetting them. Oz’s failed foray into the A-list (as testified by a highly embarrassing, failed stint on Celebrity Dance-Off), his skanky, supermodel girlfriend in tow, and a dead end job as a sports anchor at a second rate network is a goldmine of metaphor for these actors and how it must hit too close to home sometimes.
Fact: of the original AP batch only Alyson Hannigan and John Cho (formerly just MILF Guy No. 2) currently have careers as bona fide stars. Both have a string of supporting roles in hit TV series and Cho also has the success of the Harold and Kumar franchise plus some movies under his belt. The others climbed too early and then tapered off or, like Tara Reid, combusted into a tabloid burn out. And Shannon Elizabeth, the hottie that launched a thousand “shaved” jokes and became a sex icon post-'90s? Proof that she peaked in feature film high school at Great Falls is that she only merited a cameo and didn’t make it to the reunion movie’s poster.
It still feels though like a last hurrah that nobody asked for. The plot resolutions of each character are only slightly satisfying and the writing is definitely overreaching at times. The various spin-offs of the American Pie series (of which this is the eighth, or the fourth of the original arc that includes American Pie 1 and 2, and American Wedding) have done many of these jokes to death and done them with so much more vulgarity. Meaning, better.
That said, if you’re looking for an enjoyable kind of comedy and appreciate the down-to-earth, uncouth, and humor of an adult variety that is the core of American Pie, there’s no better introduction than this one. American Pie Reunion still serves up some delicious surprises from its droll sleeve. Watch out for Stifler’s mom, Jim’s dad, and Finch’s mom (the very cougar, very MILF-ish Rebecca De Mornay).
Fact: of the original AP batch only Alyson Hannigan and John Cho (formerly just MILF Guy No. 2) currently have careers as bona fide stars. Both have a string of supporting roles in hit TV series and Cho also has the success of the Harold and Kumar franchise plus some movies under his belt. The others climbed too early and then tapered off or, like Tara Reid, combusted into a tabloid burn out. And Shannon Elizabeth, the hottie that launched a thousand “shaved” jokes and became a sex icon post-'90s? Proof that she peaked in feature film high school at Great Falls is that she only merited a cameo and didn’t make it to the reunion movie’s poster.
It still feels though like a last hurrah that nobody asked for. The plot resolutions of each character are only slightly satisfying and the writing is definitely overreaching at times. The various spin-offs of the American Pie series (of which this is the eighth, or the fourth of the original arc that includes American Pie 1 and 2, and American Wedding) have done many of these jokes to death and done them with so much more vulgarity. Meaning, better.
That said, if you’re looking for an enjoyable kind of comedy and appreciate the down-to-earth, uncouth, and humor of an adult variety that is the core of American Pie, there’s no better introduction than this one. American Pie Reunion still serves up some delicious surprises from its droll sleeve. Watch out for Stifler’s mom, Jim’s dad, and Finch’s mom (the very cougar, very MILF-ish Rebecca De Mornay).
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Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine and Vanessa Hudgens - Interview mag [May 2012.
stills from Spring Breakers (2013). The movie probably sucks big time but Disney babes running around in bikinis will sell tickets. More interested in hearing Selena cuss like a sailor in that cute voice.
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