"Short Cuts" (1993)

This might be the first bravura performance by Moore, and certainly is her most visibly memorable. Why? In case you haven't seen the picture (because if you have, you know what I'm talking about), she delivers an intense, brutal emotional monologue entirely pantless. No underwear. This was indeed a brave move for a mostly unknown actress, and a risk that could have backfired had the dialogue been even remotely subpar. But since it was adapted from a collection of masterful Raymond Carver stories and directed by Robert Altman in one of his greatest pictures, it was a triumph that cemented Moore as one of the most talented actresses working. As the wife to a wealthy Los Angeles doctor (Matthew Modine), Moore's unraveling occurs as they await a Sunday dinner date with a couple they've just met when Modine confronts her about a past affair. What's terrific about this scene is that even as she's bottomless and admitting to sex with another man, it's remarkably unsexual in its bluntness. It only serves to show how fractured this couple has become. Emotionally naked, pantless or not.

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(Fine Line Features/Courtesy Everett Collection)