Good Girls Gone Bad: Elisabeth Shue, ‘Leaving Las Vegas’
Actress Elisabeth Shue was such a fresh-faced teen actress, with roles in films like 'The Karate Kid' and 'Adventures in Babysitting,' but when she grew up she needed to get away from the girl next door stereotype, which led her to star opposite Nicolas Cage in 'Leaving Las Vegas.' In the film, Cage plays a suicidal alcoholic who befriends Shue's prostitute character. Shue gets naked, has sex with Cage, and is brutally raped in the film that earned her an Academy Award nomination for best actress, and rightfully so. We'd never seen Shue like this, and she was definitely offered -- and took -- much more interesting parts after.