The PEN15 Club

We always thought that the best thing about being an actor – as an opposed to being an actress – is the relative freedom from having to whore out your body in order to make a living. It’s the whole reason this Vanity Fair cover photo doesn’t feature Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Ryan Gosling nude, and being nibbled by Tom Ford and his man-cleavage.

That’s why it’s kind of sad to see washed-up would-be stars in their 30s trading so heavily on their physiques. Especially Stephen Dorff, who segued from up-and-comer to never-was sometime around 1994, yet still continues to get his face (and abs) in magazines and on blogs. Dorff’s current PR attack is a nude Cosmo UK centerfold, a full-frontal scene in the critically derided Shadowboxer and a series of fun-and-frolicky Malibu paparazzi shots.

I’ll admit – Dorff is sort of hot if you don’t look at his face, which suffers from a Gary Busey-esque “What are you doing in my poker shack?” psycho-hillbilly glaze. But he’s going to have to work a little harder to translate his six-pack into a respectable career. Note that Towleroad refers to Shadowboxer as a “forthcoming” release when, in reality, it opened July 21 and promptly sank without a trace, despite the best efforts of Little Stephen.

Stephen Dorff unafraid to let it all hang out [Towleroad]