Up close and naked with the stars of Outrageous Fortune

Siobhan Marshall, Robyn Malcolm and Kirk Torrence posed naked for the cover of Metro. Photos / Supplied

How outrageous! The stars of New Zealand's favourite drama Outrageous Fortune have shed their skivvies in the middle of winter to appear naked on the cover of Metro magazine.

The photo-shoot features three of the show's biggest stars Robyn Malcolm (Sheryl West), Kirk Torrence (Wayne Judd) and Siobhan Marshall (Pascal West).

Inside the magazine, which relaunches tomorrow, is a series of photographs of the show's characters posing in tribute to iconic scenes in some of New Zealand's best-known films.

Malcolm told the Herald on Sunday she took the view that those who were prepared to accept her naked body should be saluted. Rather than the form of "nubile 22-year-olds" in men's magazines, Malcolm said hers was "a real body" - and more National Geographic.

The initial call from Metro's staff was greeted with enthusiasm. "It sounded like fun. We live in a world where nudity is taken at face value and associated with a whole lot of very particular things in popular culture. It doesn't have to be that way."

Malcolm said the actors who posed for the naked photographs were all fairly comfortable around each other, most having acted sex scenes for Outrageous Fortune. She had also done life modelling for extra cash as a drama student.

While comfortable with the shoot, confronting the actual images was more challenging. Close examination on a computer screen brought into contrast the parts of the body "you are conscious of", even though "no one else is going to notice".

Malcolm said her television alter-ego Sheryl West would also have embraced the idea although her sharp business mind would have compelled her to use it as a way of promoting the character's lingerie business.

"I've always imagined the West household as one where everyone walks around naked. Wolf [family patriarch and hardman] would anyway."

Metro editor Bevan Rapson said the shoot was the remarkable result from a cheeky but serious request. The actors were not paid for it.

The shoot took place on a "semi-closed" set, with only the actors, photographer Toaki Okano, art director Charlie McKay and make-up artists present. The studio was heated before the shoot began, and the actors wore robes to stay warm.

"I think the whole thing works because it shows the actors first as themselves without any costumes or props." In the tribute images, the actors have adopted the characters from the chosen movies. Skin-coloured underwear was used to keep body parts out of camera shot, with the lines smoothed out by "a tiny bit" of digital retouching.

The magazine features six of the TV show's actors naked on a fold-out cover.

The relaunch saw the magazine drop from its large size, adopted in 2002, to an A4 perfect-bound format closer to the size in which it was launched in the 1980s.

The new-look Metro goes on sale at news-stands tomorrow.