The amount of nudity we see in television and film is astronomically higher than ever before. Shows like Game of Thrones and Girls show stars in the buff on almost a weekly basis. While scenes involving nudity have been relegated to "gratuitous" and "pornographic" in the past, the purpose and discussion behind those scenes is starting to change. Now, nude scenes can be viewed as empowering, poignant, and even necessary to storytelling for these films and TV shows. But that doesn't necessarily mean the Hollywood landscape has been scrubbed clean of its blatantly titillating nude scenes either, especially in regards to women.
Female celebrities in film and TV are the first to be taken advantage of when it comes to nude scenes. Whether the scene is necessary or not, women in the industry are expected to oblige and strip their clothes whenever asked of them. Some female celebs have voiced stark opposition to filming nude scenes, even refusing to consider the option.
While baring it all is a deal-breaker for some, stripping down is a no-brainer for others. Actresses like Mary-Louise Parker and Emmy Rossum frequently go naked for their roles on their racier Showtime shows. But that doesn't necessarily mean they're happy about all the scenes that come their way. Female celebrity nude scenes will always be a source of controversy and criticism. Misogyny within the industry is to blame for that, especially when considering the unequal portrayal of nudity between men and women on-screen. But what do these women think about nude scenes themselves? Here's a roundup of popular actresses' opinions on doing nude scenes.
Famous Actresses Talk About Doing Nude Scenes,
Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt is no prude when it comes to nude scenes. The Hollywood starlet has appeared naked in Henry VIII as well as My Summer of Love. But it also appears that motherhood has changed Blunt's stance on nudity. Blunt, who is expecting her second child, announced that she would no longer film nude scenes or star in violent roles. "I’m not so keen on doing nudity, because I’m not 22 any more. And actually it’s not so much a moral thing as, 'I’ve done it before and do I really want to do it again?'" she said. For the most part, Blunt views nude scenes as gratuitously unnecessary. She added: "Does it serve the film or is it gratuitous and seeing someone’s t*ts for the sake of it? I don’t think it’s necessary most of the time. Also playing violent or racist characters would be hard for me now."
Halle Berry
Halle Berry's gritty role in Monster's Ball won her an Academy Award for Best Actress. But for a lot of viewers, Berry's very intense sex scene with Billy Bob Thornton comes to mind when thinking of the film. Although Berry doesn't regret the scene, she doesn't believe nudity in film is really necessary at all. Discussing her film Swordfish, in which she also appears nude, Berry had this to say: "I don't think nudity is ever necessary. I think you can make every single movie and never show anything and it's fine. I think it's a choice you make, and it was a bold choice on my part. But it was written in the script and when I was offered the part, I was told, 'That's who this girl is and it's not negotiable to be taken out.'" Berry said she agreed to the scene because "it showed you that the character was in control of her sexuality and very comfortable with herself."
Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren has mixed feelings when it comes to the nude scenes that defined her early film career. In one sense, the scenes haunt Mirren, but the actress still stands by the decisions she made when she was younger. Initially, Mirren recalled thinking "does it really matter? I was doing nude scenes [from] the first moment I started doing movies... It was the era... It seemed to be nothing to get your knickers in a twist over." However, Mirren did recall being "afraid. It’s not fun to be on a film set and be one of the only ones naked." The only film Mirren is positive she does not regret shedding her clothes for is Caligula, her 1979 erotic drama. Her reason? "Everyone was naked in that. It was like showing up for a nudist camp every day. You felt embarrassed if you had your clothes on in that movie.”
Kate Winslet
Hands down one of the most memorable scenes in James Cameron's Titanic is Kate Winslet's nude drawing scene. And although the film legitimized her acting career, Winslet sometimes regrets having agreed to that scene. To this day, Winslet claims that people still approach her on the street asking her to sign the film's nude drawing. "I don't sign that [picture]. It feels very uncomfortable. Why would you do that? People ask me to sign that [picture] a lot...I'm like, 'No! I didn't mean for it to be a photograph that I would end up still seeing 17 years later,'" she explained. If she could go back, it seems that Winslet wouldn't avoid the boat altogether, but would definitely turn down Jack's offer to draw her like one of his French girls.
Kristen Stewart
Following her career-defining role as Bella Swan in the Twilight series, Kristen Stewart took on a drastically edgier role in a film adaptation of Jack Kerouac's On the Road. Stewart was required to appear nude in the scene, and she immediately felt out of her comfort zone. "That was maybe the one day I didn’t feel as free as I did," she said. But the actress surprisingly embraced the on-screen nudity to the fullest. “I wasn’t scared, honestly. It’s kind of insane to watch now. I’m like, ’Who is that?’ But I think — as every actress says when they do this is — it just felt so right. It was so within a different world and so within a different environment that I don’t even really feel — I mean, I am personally connected to it, of course — but it is something outside of myself," she added. Stewart concluded by adding that she doesn't regret the scenes at all. "“I have kind of no qualms about it either,” she added. “I think people are a little uptight.”
Mary-Louise Parker
Former protagonist of Showtime's Weeds, Mary-Louise Parker had a few issues with her character's onscreen nudity. The actress, who appeared naked on the show relatively frequently, didn't love every scene that required her to strip down. Parker actually publicly voiced disappointment in a scene that she felt was particularly gratuitous. In the Season 4 finale of Weeds, Parker appears naked in the bath tub for an extended scene. According to Parker, she didn't find the shot necessary. "They made it sound like I was like, 'They made me take my clothes off and chained me to the bathtub," she said. Parker later clarified her statements, assuring viewers that there were no on-set quarrels. "I was talking about that scene as an example of something I didn't love as much when I saw it because they kept cutting back and I was naked, but they liked the position of it," she added. In fact, Parker enjoys being naked on set. The actress admitted: "I mean, if you know me, it's like, someone sneezes and I take my clothes off. I'm naked in Esquire in August. I was naked on the set the other day. I'm always naked. I'm naked right now, in fact."
Natalie Dormer
Game of Thrones' Natalie Dormer has no regrets when it comes to her on-screen nudity. In fact, she thinks her decision to bare it all has paid off in the long run. Aside from that, Dormer believes the nudity on Thrones is equal between men and woman. "There’s plenty of male nudity in Game of Thrones, too. Sex is part of life, ergo it’s part of art. If you’re representing real life, then you will represent sex," she explained. Dormer has fearlessly defended her nudity on the show. She believes that if "[she] can pay the bills doing the job [she] loves — [her] 16-year-old self would be very content with that. But, of course, your ambitions change."
Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman, albeit nervous, was not necessarily opposed to on-screen nudity. But after her naked scenes ended up all over porn websites, the actress felt much more opinionated on the issue. "It really depressed me that half of every review on the film was about the nudity. It made me think I shouldn't have done it. I'm not prudish about nudity. I think it's beautiful in films, and sex is such a big part of life. My issue is that I feel it takes something away from what you're doing when the focus is put on the wrong thing," she told interviewers. Since then, Portman has vowed to avoid appearing nude in movies. "My picture ended up on porn sites, and that's the dilemma. I just don't want to do something that will end up as a screen grab on a porn site," she told Elle magazine.
Pamela Anderson
You probably wouldn't expect Pamela Anderson, of all people, to admit she regrets all those naked photos and film scenes. But the actress opened up in 2010 about her concerns regarding the racy images that have followed her career. "My children are made fun of because I have posed naked. When you pose, you are not thinking that one day you will have children who will see it," Anderson admitted. It appears motherhood has made Anderson a little embarrassed about her choices to pose nude. But that hasn't stopped Anderson from making that decision again. The model and actress posed nude again for Playboy's final issues featuring nudity.
Emilia Clarke
Emilia Clarke has been pretty vocal about her nude scenes in Game of Thrones. But she's also been relatively flip-floppy on her stance on them. After Season 4 of Game of Thrones, Clarke vowed to never do a nude scene for the show again. She told interviewers in 2015 that "sex scenes should be more subtle," adding that she'd be participating in fewer of them in upcoming seasons of the show. "I'm British, so I cringe at that sort of thing anyway. I can't stand it," she added. Clarke clarified her statements later, claiming they were taken out of context. "Sometimes explicit scenes are required and make sense for the characters/story, as they do in Westeros. If it’s gratuitous for gratuitous sake, then I will discuss with a director on how to make it more subtle," she said.
Clarke recently received criticism after appearing fully nude again in a recent Game of Thrones episode. She defended the scene, saying: "I personally have had a lot of [criticism] where people are like, 'Oh, the chick who takes her clothes off,' as a kind of derogatory thing, and I'm like, 'Excuse me, [those scenes] couldn't be more empowering.' The fact that I'm naked is just like a 'screw you' to all the haters, do you know what I mean?"