How do you feel about nudity, Mathilda?

Imagine you’re an actress and you’ve landed your first big role.

The catch? You’ll have to be naked for about 75 percent of your screen time.

Caught up with a minor ’80s sci-fi feature “Lifeforce” over the weekend, a film which reminded me of one of the most naked performances in screen history.

Newcomer Mathilda May plays “Space Girl,” the gorgeous creature brought to earth by a space expedition gone terribly wrong. She’s a vampire from the cosmos, sucking the lifeforce – get it? – out of everyone she meets.

Did I mention she does all of this completely naked?

The film, directed by quasi-horror legend Tobe Hooper, fizzled during its initial box office release. Yet the pre-CGI special effects remain excellent, and the Henry Mancini score goes about its business as if this were a Steven Spielberg epic.

And then there’s May, as lovely an actress as you’re likely to see parading around the film in her birthday suit.

Had Mr. Skin been around at the time, she surely would have won a “Breast Performance” award … or something similar.

A quick glance at her imdb.com resume reveals she worked steadily after “Lifeforce” opened, but mostly overseas. Turned out being nude wasn’t the career starter she anticipated.

(Photo: Actress Mathilda May got her big break playing a nude alien in “Lifeforce.”)

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