Striptease (1996) – Demi Moore
Demi Moore became a well known sweetheart in the 80s as a member of the Brat Pack and graduated to showcase some serious acting chops in the early 90s with roles in Ghost and A Few Good Men. By 1995, she was the highest paid actress in Hollywood and paving the way for salary equality. A little over a decade later, she was still culturally relevant…but more as Ashton Kutcher’s wife than as an actress. In the meantime, she starred in Striptease. Described as an “erotic, black comedy” and based on a novel by Carl Hiaasen, the movie was far from a hit and instead has been called tacky, pretentious, boring, and decidedly unsexy. (That last point is important because of how much emphasis there was on Moore’s willingness to dance naked on camera.)
Adding to the drama of the movie’s extremely poor reception was the fact that Moore was paid $12.5 million for the film, a hugely unprecedented sum at the time. Her salary and emerging reputation as a diva, combined with the failed expectations of Striptease, which was often blamed on her poor performance, made studios more wary of casting her and marked a significant downturn in her acting career. Her next film, G.I. Jane, reportedly only continued production because of contractual obligations. Since the mid 90s, the most high profile movie Moore has been involved with was the 2003 movie Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, playing the villain. These days Moore still picks up minor roles here and there…and is known mostly for being Ashton Kutcher’s ex-wife.