Nudity's a big deal for Kathy Bates / But actress strips for appealing role in 'About Schmidt'

Kathy Bates would shudder at the idea of herself as a crusader for the rights of full-bodied women. Nonetheless, her nude scene in the forthcoming "About Schmidt" will surely pave the way for large actresses to feel OK about shedding their clothes onscreen.

"We're so body-conscious in this country that it's a shame, really," Bates told us. "I think we live with very unrealistic expectations of what we should look like."

The buzz has Jack Nicholson in line for an Oscar nomination as Schmidt, an emotionally numb widower. But Bates steals the movie as an aging hippie who takes a shine to Schmidt. If justice prevails, Bates, an Oscar winner for "Misery," will be up for best supporting actress in March.

The ease with which she finesses the nude scene is alone worth recognition. To Schmidt's surprise, this woman, whom he barely knows, disrobes and hops into a hot tub with him.

Before agreeing to the scene, Bates said she hashed out with director Alexander Payne exactly what part of her anatomy would be shown and what wouldn't. "I battled to make myself comfortable, and he battled to get what he wanted. We met in the middle."

To avoid gawkers, a skeleton crew was used to shoot the scene. "I drank a cosmopolitan before I got in that tub, to relax just enough."

Bates is pleased with the results. "I'm as self-conscious as anybody, which is why I wanted to make sure what we shot was something I was comfortable with. "

BUTT GEORGE: Continuing to present the naked truth about Hollywood, here's the skinny on how "Solaris" got a PG-13 rating even with a glimpse of George Clooney unclothed. The Motion Picture Association of America originally wanted to smack an R on Steven Soderbergh's psychological sci-fi movie because of a scene featuring Clooney's butt, but an appeals court overruled the decision.

"I heard that it's not an R-rated ass. I don't know. I'm hurt," Clooney joked to us. Soderbergh added sarcastically, "I'm not surprised that if you're making a film about the cosmos, that somehow it's going to boil down to George's behind."

JUST DROPPING IN: If you saw someone who looked like Parker Posey over the weekend, it probably was the exuberant actress best known as a regular in Christopher Guest's offbeat comedies. Posey planned her publicity tour for "Personal Velocity" so she could spend a couple of days in San Francisco instead of immediately hopping on a plane. She and some local friends dined at Delfina -- her name got them a last-minute reservation -- and caught the Icelandic rock band Sigor Ros at the Warfield.

.75 Posey is familiar with our town from making the first "Tales of the City" miniseries (the only one to be shot here instead of in Canada). She played a flight attendant who showed a recent arrival to San Francisco how to pick up men at the Marina Safeway.

In "Personal Velocity," the top prize winner at Sundance, she's a Manhattan cookbook editor looking for excitement outside marriage. Her character is successful, and Posey identifies with her accompanying guilt. "Success came pretty quickly for me," she said, "and the feeling of guilt never goes away."

It may diminish now that parts are coming more slowly. "People have a misconception that I'm sitting on a stack of scripts," said Posey, who attributes the dearth of offers to the drying up of financing for independent films.

She has only one other film in the can: Guest's latest, "A Mighty Wind," reuniting the casts of "Waiting for Guffman" and "Best in Show." The new movie,

out this spring, follows three bands on their way to a concert. "It's like 'Nashville' with folk musicians."

CLOSING CREDITS: Madonna's latest bomb, "Swept Away," has mercifully disappeared from movie houses. But the Material Girl can still be seen onscreen. Besides her cameo in "Die Another Day" (she's the fencing instructor in the lace uniform), she can be seen in hubby Guy Ritchie's short Internet film, "Star," commissioned by BMW. Madonna plays the title character, described as a "hugely talented and beautiful rock star who always gets what she wants." Did Madonna write that ad?

A big push is on to secure a best-actor Oscar nomination for Robin Williams for "One Hour Photo," with numerous screenings scheduled for members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He's got one Academy Award at his Sea Cliff home already, for "Good Will Hunting," but that was merely as a supporting actor.

"The Hot Chick," in theaters Dec. 13, is the first movie to joke about Winona Ryder. One of the teenage characters tries to sneak out of a store with some hot merchandise, only to be stopped by a security guard who sternly says, "Let's go, Winona."