To help make the Irish comedy "Waking Ned Devine" (opening today) a hit, its stars gave it their all by showing their all. David Kelly, 69, and Ian Bannen, 70, end up naked in a few scenes that would make even Mark "Dirk Diggler" Wahlberg blush. (The two play devoted friends who conspire to cash the winning lottery ticket left behind by a neighbor who died of shock.) In one standout scene, the tiny Kelly finds himself caroming via motorcycle through the back roads of the Isle of Man (where the film was shot) wearing only a helmet.

"It was bloody cold, and it was frightening, and any worry about modesty went right out the window," Kelly tells EW Online. "With my great weight -- I shot up to eight-and-a-half stone (119 pounds) last year -- the helmet was heavier than I was. Plus, I'd never been on a motorbike before. And I was totally naked except for this little slip thing which held a tiny camera. Even that had to go, but at that point I didn't care because I knew I was going to my maker."

Kelly's comic nude scene won't necessarily turn "Devine" into an import smash along the lines of "The Full Monty" (which pulled in $46 million in the U.S.). But it will certainly ensure that audiences remember this cheeky veteran of theater, British and Irish television, and movies such as "The Matchmaker." Perhaps it will even become as memorable as his onetime role in 1975 as a bumbling carpenter on John Cleese's classic sitcom "Fawlty Towers." "That doesn't go away," Kelly says happily. "For one half-hour of television, I get recognized literally everywhere, from Singapore to Australia. (Recently) I got my 31st check for repeat fees. Some of them are quite small.... I'm very big in places like Malawi."