Actresses remembered for sex scenes

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Can someone name some actresses made ‘notorious’ or just famous only by the sex scene(s) they were in? Except Sharon Stone and Meg Ryan, and ideally of a younger generation. Someone told me this doesn’t happen anymore, and I’m wondering what people think.



Chloe Sevigny in The Brown Bunny.

Lauren Lee Smith in Lie With Me.

Emmanuelle Seigner in Bitter Moon

Deborah Revy in Q(Desire)

Dakota Johnson in Fifty Shades of Grey

Carla Juri in Feuchtgebiete (aka Wetlands)

Eva Green in The Dreamers

Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux in Blue is the warmest Colour

Monica Bellucci for Irreversible (though it was rape scene and not sex scene).


I might recall more later.



Chloe Sevigny in The Brown Bunny.

Lauren Lee Smith in Lie With Me.

Emmanuelle Seigner in Bitter Moon

Deborah Revy in Q(Desire)

Dakota Johnson in Fifty Shades of Grey

Carla Juri in Feuchtgebiete (aka Wetlands)

Eva Green in The Dreamers

Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux in Blue is the warmest Colour

Monica Bellucci for Irreversible (though it was rape scene and not sex scene).


I might recall more later.
What a perfect list. Thank you.



google sex scenes movies and it will show up
I did, but it’s not the same thing. Some of these actresses are virtually unknown anyway, and only became marginally known after the said sex scenes. I wanted reasonably mainstream actresses in whose case the sex scene just overshadowed other work.



To answer the question I believe you're asking, I do think that it's less common that actresses are known for "that scene".

For example, I know that Dakota Johnson was in a movie with lots of sex, but I'm not aware of a specific scene or element of a scene that is notorious.

Maybe it's that sex is more normalized in terms of how often we see it as content outside of erotic thrillers, but even when a film gets attention for its sexual content, I don't feel as though the actress involved then only gets regarded for that one thing.

On the other hand, when you talk about Meg Ryan are you referring to the scene in the diner? And when you talk about Sharon Stone are you referring to the "no underwear" moment? Those are memorable, iconic film moments, but I'm not sure I'd think of either of them as "sex scenes".



To answer the question I believe you're asking, I do think that it's less common that actresses are known for "that scene".

For example, I know that Dakota Johnson was in a movie with lots of sex, but I'm not aware of a specific scene or element of a scene that is notorious.

Maybe it's that sex is more normalized in terms of how often we see it as content outside of erotic thrillers, but even when a film gets attention for its sexual content, I don't feel as though the actress involved then only gets regarded for that one thing.

On the other hand, when you talk about Meg Ryan are you referring to the scene in the diner? And when you talk about Sharon Stone are you referring to the "no underwear" moment? Those are memorable, iconic film moments, but I'm not sure I'd think of either of them as "sex scenes".
You’re right, they’re not full-on sex scenes as such - I was asking the question in relation to a particular discussion, it would really take way too long to explain the context, but in short, someone was arguing that a sex-related role/scene would get an actress remembered for that particular thing and ‘overshadow’ the rest of her career. I was wondering whether that still applies.

I do agree with what’s been said above, and in my own mind, Monica Bellucci is most associated with Irreversible, out of all the things she’s done, and the same goes for Eva Green (whom I love) and Dreamers (even over Casino Royale). These are just the first points of reference. You’re spot-on in that sex is no longer ‘shocking’ in itself.



The Sharon Stone "no underwear" moment in Basic Instinct was the first thing I thought of when I saw the title of this thread.
See! Thank you, my point exactly @Takoma11. It’s probably a bit imprecise, but that’s the kind of association I had in mind.



Not that the actresses were only remembered for the sex scenes... but a couple I remember are...
Kim Basinger in 9 1/2 Weeks (1986),
Jessica Lange in The Postman Only Rings Twice (1981)... and for being undressed by King Kong in 1976!
Maria Schneider (I think?) in Last Tango in Paris (1972)



Not that the actresses were only remembered for the sex scenes... but a couple I remember are...
Kim Basinger in 9 1/2 Weeks (1986),
Jessica Lange in The Postman Only Rings Twice (1981)... and for being undressed by King Kong in 1976!
Maria Schneider (I think?) in Last Tango in Paris (1972)

The Jessica Lange scene in the kitchen in The Postman Always Rings Twice
is one of my favorite sex scenes EVER...smoking hot!!



To answer the question I believe you're asking, I do think that it's less common that actresses are known for "that scene".

For example, I know that Dakota Johnson was in a movie with lots of sex, but I'm not aware of a specific scene or element of a scene that is notorious.

Maybe it's that sex is more normalized in terms of how often we see it as content outside of erotic thrillers, but even when a film gets attention for its sexual content, I don't feel as though the actress involved then only gets regarded for that one thing.

On the other hand, when you talk about Meg Ryan are you referring to the scene in the diner? And when you talk about Sharon Stone are you referring to the "no underwear" moment? Those are memorable, iconic film moments, but I'm not sure I'd think of either of them as "sex scenes".
It's funny that you mentioned Dakota Johnson...I don't remember a single significant sex scene in Fifty Shades of Gray



See! Thank you, my point exactly @Takoma11. It’s probably a bit imprecise, but that’s the kind of association I had in mind.
I mean, I also understood exactly which two scenes you were referencing.

But I'd go back to the idea that they were both iconic movie moments that were sex related. They were novel, memorable moments because they were surprising and shocking. Both of those moments have been endlessly referenced/parodied. You could similarly argue that Demi Moore is most famous for her pottery wheel scene in Ghost.

I'm just not sure that it's about the actresses so much as it is about the films in which they appear. Meg Ryan probably has the most "ownership" over her iconic scene. So it might also be that movies themselves in the more current filmscape haven't generated iconic sexual moments at that same level. I'm trying to figure out how best to articulate this, but when someone says "Sharon Stone" I actually don't just think about Basic Instinct. And when someone says "Meg Ryan" there are plenty of things I think about, with the diner scene being part of the mix.

In parallel, I don't feel like actors these days are as strongly associated with catchphrases in the same way that they used to be. But that might just be the telescoped perspective on the past. Think about phrases like "I'll be back!" or "Yippee-ki-yay". It doesn't seem to me that you get actors/actresses as strongly associated with a line of dialogue.



Natalie Portman in Black Swan



This one may be a little out there...
But the actress's name is Jeannie Linero.

(Before I go on, anyone care to take a guess?)


WARNING: "The Reveal..." spoilers below
Anyway, she played "Lucy" - the girl at the wedding in The Godfather (1972) that Sonny has sex with during the reception!

I don't think there is an actual sex scene per se (if memory serves correctly)... it's mostly just implied as the two sneak off together and I believe are shown tidying themselves up afterward.

It's kind of an important scene as Lucy conceives a son during her interlude with the already-married Sonny... a son who comes back to play a major role in The Godfather III (1990).


If not her name, then her face is most definitely remembered by most who've seen the movie for her role in the scene.