A Field Guide To Stacy Martin

Stacy Martin may have only come to our attention this year – but boy, did she ever come to our attention. One of the stars of Lars von Trier's "Nymphomaniac Vol 1," she appeared in nude scenes so hot they made Mr. Skin's top ten list for the year*. But who is Ms. Martin when she's not getting eaten out for the camera? It's time to investigate!

Stacy Martin was born January 1, 1991, in Paris, France, and split her childhood between her country of birth and Japan, where she lived during her tween years. If that's not multicultural enough for you, she also attended an international school and grew up speaking English – one of the reasons why she demonstrates such fluency in that tongue despite being a native Parisian.

After finishing school, Martin moved to London to pursue her dreams of being an actress; like many pretty young things before her, she turned to modeling to help pay the bills. For some, that might seem like a dream job in and of itself; for Martin, it was always just a way to get by until she achieved her true career goal. As she remarked in Interview, "With anything that you don't look at in terms of a career or as a long-term thing, it's always nice to stop. It did give me amazing opportunities and I was able to live my own life from the age of 18. I didn't depend on my parents. It paid for my [acting] training. It was great in that sense, but I'm happy to move on." 

And what a way to move on. Martin was discovered by the "Nymphomaniac" casting director while she was still in acting school; he introduced her to the project's concept by describing it as a "Lars von Trier movie with Charlotte Gainsbourg. It's called "Nymphomaniac" and you get to have a porn double and a prosthetic vagina." While some (okay, many) young actresses might be put off by that description, Martin found herself intrigued. Not long after she was on her way to a test screening in Copenhagen, where she met Lars and, yes, saw his box of prosthetic genitalia. And the rest is, well, near-pornographic film history.

Martin's willingness to take on such an explicit role so early on in her career was enough to make us like her – but her attitude about revealing the nature of her film debut to her family makes us enter into enamored territory. Granted, it would have been hard for her to keep her participation in a massive movie debut a secret for long, but it's nice to see she approached the whole "coming out" situation directly and with no shame about her sexy onscreen persona:

Did I keep it from my parents? No, I did the complete opposite, because obviously they are going to see it. There's no way out. I told them from the start—sent them all the pictures. I was like, "This is going to come out, so just be warned." They were really cool about it. Obviously were like, "Stacy, you couldn't have done something a bit more discreet for your first film?" I was like, "Well, I couldn't say no, could I?"

And at the end of the day, what really appealed to Martin about "Nymphomaniac" – beyond the porn doubles and prosthetic genitals and nudity – was the chance to sink her teeth (and, you know, body) into a really fascinating role. "There's very much nakedness and sexuality but Joe's such a great character and that, as an actress, is what appealed to me. To play her was an opportunity I couldn't say no to. Being naked on camera is not something I do every day; I wear clothes. But it was a conscious decision to say, 'This is Joe, and as Joe I'm honoring this part of the character'." Given that the role landed her a Best Actress nomination at the Bodil Awards (the Danish film awards, for those not in the loop), we'd have to say it was a good one to take on – and given that it's led to numerous follow up roles in other films; well, it would seem that Martin's career is now in full swing.

It remains to be seen whether Stacy Martin will ever again get as naked as she does in "Nymphomaniac" – but even if she keeps her clothes on for the rest of her career, we'll always be grateful she took a chance on Lars and created some truly compelling cinema (and skinema). And we hope that her career can serve as a model for other aspiring young actresses out there. Don't listen to those naysayers who tell you nudity will harm your chances at having a serious acting career, girls. If Stacy Martin can do it, so can you (and, really, we wish you all would).

* And her sex scenes were so good we're pretty sure they weren't acting – though that might have been a porno body double, and not actually her.

See Stacy Martin and other nude celebs at Mrskin!