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Melrose Place star Courtney Thorne-Smith has claimed she was asked to wear a “really sexy negligee” as an underage actor in one of her early movies.
The 56-year-old is best known for her roles as Alison Parker in the American soap opera, as well as playing Georgia Thomas on legal comedy Ally McBeal. However, despite being known for her light-hearted roles onscreen, her career started out on a slightly darker note.
“One of my first movies, I was 17 years old, and I was in Tahoe. And the storyline was, I was 17, and I was playing against this guy who was in his late thirties,” the star explained on the latest episode of her podcast Still the Place.
Thorne-Smith presents the show with her Melrose Place co-stars Daphne Zuniga who plays Jo Reynolds and Laura Leighton who plays Sydney Andrews.
“We did sleep together in the script, and I wore one of his button-down shirts afterwards,” she continued.
However, when Thorne-Smith got to the set, she found “a really sexy negligee” in her room. She raised the issue with her director, reminding him that she had a no-nudity clause in her contract and that the lingerie had not been included in the script.
“They just trapped me,” she continued. A producer then told the actor that the film’s crew were talking about her “being a baby”.
Thorne-Smith contacted her agent who appeared on the set of the production to support her. The actor appreciated the gesture and reflected on it years afterwards, when she heard accounts of women being set up by their agents in hotel rooms.
“I also had this mindset of, I’m 17 with an [older] man,” she said. “Like, I knew it was kind of off, but the shirt made it feel alright.”
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Although she said production was left “furious”, Thorne-Smith said that members of the crew congratulated her afterwards.
“I’m so grateful I had that ability to stand up for myself at that age,” she said. “I’m amazed, actually. I had that ability at that age.”
Thorne-Smith made her debut film appearance alongside Winona Ryder and Charlie Sheen in 1986 movie, Lucas. She went on to star in a number of TV shows and movies in the 1980s. Her breakthrough role came in 1992 when she first starred on Melrose Place, continuing on the show until 1997.
