What makes this role so special is that it gives us a glimpse of undiluted Madonna, pre-legend, pre-icon. She hasn’t yet shocked the world by dancing in front of burning crosses, or wearing her cone bra; she hasn't been banned by MTV or kissed Britney Spears. She was only 26 when the film was released in March 1985, and about to embark on The Virgin Tour, her first concert tour in North America. (The Beastie Boys were her opening act.) She had only two studio albums under her belt, 1983’s Madonna, and 1984’s Like A Virgin, which propelled her to international stardom. But at the time of Desperately Seeking Susan’s shoot, she still embodied that downtown New York City party scene that had given birth to her. When Susan flocks from club to club, nodding at acquaintances (all of whom she owes money to), drying her armpits with a hand-dryer in a public bathroom and crashing at a different place every night of the week, she’s basically an up-and-coming Madonna, Her performance is natural and effortless, with none of the stiff, self-conscious line-readings that would come to characterise later roles. She oozes sex and seduction out of every pore — even when she’s just chewing gum — but she also seems approachable, like your most wild, fun girlfriend who also mooches off you once in a while.