I heard she tried to bury this movie - and when she couldn't, she said "I never have and never will get nude for a role." Which is weird, because she not only did, but even offered to go full frontal for that scene.
shareShe got nude in "Wild", which was made a couple of years ago.
She's got a nice bod for someone who's birthed several children.
This movie came out right before 1999, which was her breakout year (Election, Cruel Intentions, Pleasantville) and 3 years before Legal Blond made her an A-list star. She was probably hoping staring opposite Gene Hackman, and doing a smoking hot nude scene would launch her career. When that didn't happen as a result of this movie, but she still became a huge star anyways, she became embarrassed by it, as many young actresses are by their early work.
Ironically, the movie did get the attention she was hoping for, but only after she became a star from other work. So instead of an gaining fame from an amazing nude scene (it is!!!), the nude scene gained fame from her star power.