Dana Delany has an image problem. Sure, she has done steamy turns as Willem Dafoe's ex-junkie girlfriend in Light Sleeper and a femme fatale in the miniseries Wild Palms. But mostly Delany is remembered for playing McMurphy, the introspective and heroic nurse in TV's Vietnam war drama, China Beach. She's about to bust her wholesome image wide open by starring in Exit to Eden, a Garry Marshall comedy in which she plays a dominatrix (the film is based on a book by Anne Rice, who wrote it under one of her pen names). We sent Contributing Editor David Rensin to meet with Delany at her Santa Monica home. Says Rensin: "Dana once told a writer that she buys PLAYBOY, 'but I don't read the articles. I look at the pictures.' It's safe to say that's about to change."

Q 1

PLAYBOY: When was the last time you played nurse with someone?

Dana Delany: Never did, even as a kid. I always played secretary and boss. I was the secretary and Nick Murphy was the boss. I used to sit on his lap and take dictation. I had a little stenographer's pad and I'd fake that I was writing something. That was how I would do my homework, too. I used to make my desk up like I was at an office. I'd even take phone calls. But the game stopped when my family rented a Dodge bus in 1967 to go to the World's Fair in Montreal. Nick's family rented one, too. We were in the back of his bus reading PLAYBOY together. I suddenly realized that we were too old to play secretary and boss. Also, I think we got caught with the magazine. We had stolen his father's copy.

Q 2

PLAYBOY: We once asked you to pose. You declined but said you were flattered. However, you've since mentioned our request to a number of interviewers. If you're not willing to pose, why keep bringing it up?

Dana Delany: Because posing is every girl's dream. As much as it's not politically correct to admit it, it's a validation that men find you attractive. I grew up on PLAYBOY. I read my father's--looked at the pictures, too. And as a frequent viewer of the magazine, I'd like to say that I am not turned on by the centerfold anymore. I like the ones from the Sixties, when the women weren't perfect, when they were kind of soft and more womanly. Big breasts and spanky pants, I'm telling you! Most men I know feel the same way. They miss those days. It bothers me that boys growing up now--and girls, because girls read PLAYBOY, too, and they compare themselves--are going to think that that's what a body looks like. Of course, I'm lucky to have big boobs, so I don't have to worry about that.

Q 3

PLAYBOY: Describe the social challenges of growing up well-endowed.

Dana Delany: There are ramifications. Like your mother wanting you to get a breast reduction in junior high school. Also, it was not fashionable to be large-breasted in the late Sixties--it was Twiggy time. And then there was the no-bra era. I didn't wear one for most of my formative years, which is terrible for young girls. Skin stretches. But I was a good student, which is contrary to the conventional wisdom that large-breasted girls do less homework and have more dates. I suppose that girls with good figures place much of their self-esteem in their looks, and that their parents do, too. Mine didn't let that happen.

Q 4

PLAYBOY: How do you handle conversations with men whose gazes drift lower than your eyes?

Dana Delany: They can stare at my chest. It doesn't bother me. It's all about the way you dress. We live in such weird times about what is correct and what isn't. Society places too much emphasis on beauty, and that's harmful to young girls. On the other hand, you also want to celebrate beauty. I never thought of myself as beautiful. I knew that I was cute, but that was it. I remember in third grade Rachel Rudick coming up to me and saying, "My mother says that you're not beautiful, you're attractive."

Q 5

PLAYBOY: What acting advice has served you best?

Dana Delany: When I was in my 20s, my teacher, Gina Barnett, changed my life. After class one night she said, "Dana, you have to stop thinking about your pussy and start thinking about your career." At the time I was so concerned about whether or not the boys liked me. I was dating Treat Williams. Everything was about our relationship. My acting-class exercises were all about how I was the victim. But Gina was right. So I started putting all my energy into my work, instead of into having somebody fall in love with me. And I realized that I didn't want to be with Treat, I wanted to be Treat. I wanted to have his confidence and power. We're great friends now. He's married and has a kid and is happy. In fact, I'm about to do a short movie that he'll direct. But at the time I was hiding behind him. I was about 26 when I got my priorities straight, and I haven't looked back since. That's when I started working.