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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Would you do frontal nudity if you were an actress?

90 replies

NotTodaySherry · 30/12/2020 01:48

For a lead role in a show like Game of Thrones or The Witcher?

I'm just getting back into acting (I went to drama school and did some acting work in my 20's) and recently, got a decent agent. I was asked to do a self tape for a new show not dissimilar to the above. Although, it didn't specify nudity I am paranoid that if I got the part they may ask to see the melons.

AIBU to not be ok with it despite wanting to do stuff like GOT?

OP posts:

MandalaYogaTapestry · 30/12/2020 07:40

Cate Blanchett - not on the screen, but was having full on aggressive sex on stage during the When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other.

Actresses who haven't been naked on screen, off the top of my head:

Julia Roberts
Sarah Jessica Parker
Sandra Bullock

I am sure there are many others.

Clappingforjoy · 30/12/2020 07:43

Yes if I had a great body and was been paid well

nosswith · 30/12/2020 07:43

YANBU. There is a difference between being body confident (hope you are OP) and being OK with doing topless or nude scenes (most of which have no relevance to a story).

CleanQueen123 · 30/12/2020 08:20

I've been a life model so taking my clothes off wouldn't bother me, but I'd want it to be relevant to the plot. I wouldn't want to just be whipping my kit off in a film purely because the director wants to see my tits.

Sinful8 · 30/12/2020 08:31

Random person who "did some acting in thier twenties" gets auctions for TV shows with, what 15 mill an episode budget?

geekone · 30/12/2020 08:41

It depends. Nudity it’s self shouldn’t be an issue. We all need to relax a little about the body, it’s just boobs and hair really you wouldn’t see much else and nudity is normal.

However I would be very careful about the script and why there is nudity and what it would be shot like. Is it for the male gaze? Is it necessary? The scene in GOT where Emilia Clark stands naked is terrible male gaze nonsense and unnecessary and in the first few series most of the nudity is fir men no other reason. Except maybe the scene wher Rose Leslie and Kit Harrington get naked that was about her owning it and no male gaze.

So American pie nope but a female version of Equus, yes.

JohnMiddleNameRedactedSwanson · 30/12/2020 08:43

Salma Hayek did in Desperado.

This is a conversation that you need to have with your agent, OP. YANBU to have a preference but if the producers deem it necessary for the role then they may go with someone else.

Thisisworsethananticpated · 30/12/2020 08:48

It’s depends
I recently watched a very good swedish series on Netflix
In one scene each both actors did a full frontal (male and female )
It was totally relevant for the context and they were clothed for the rest of the time

CuntAmongstThePigeons · 30/12/2020 09:33

I would! But I love being naked and have done lots of life modelling/ stripping/ performance art etc.

But don't do anything you're uncomfortable with OP. And don't allow people to push your boundaries. Also I don't suppose you have any tips for getting an agent. I haven't done any acting for years but am considering trying again.

Destinysdaughter · 30/12/2020 09:38

Julia Robers was topless in Pretty Woman ( the scene where they have sex on top of the piano)

SimonJT · 30/12/2020 09:43

I’m very much a naked person, I play a sport so I’m often naked in front of lots of other people and I generally only wear pants of shorts at home.

But no, I wouldn’t subject anyone to a cinema screen size version of me naked.

For some awful reason because you specifically said frontal the image in my brain is someone stood up naked with their hands on their hips. Not the best of images.

wellthatsunusual · 30/12/2020 09:46

@Destinysdaughter

Julia Robers was topless in Pretty Woman ( the scene where they have sex on top of the piano)

I think that was a body double. I seem to remember back at the height of her fame much was made of the fact that she had refused to do that bit herself

carlaCox · 30/12/2020 09:53

I think it's exploitative. Most of the time the nudity adds nothing to the plot and is just there to titillate. There are whole sites on the internet dedicated to screenshots of topless/nude female actors for sad men to wank over and comment on. I don't judge women for doing it, I know they must be under enormous pressure, but I don't think I'd do it myself.

ineedaholidaynow · 30/12/2020 10:01

I am sure Julia Roberts used a body double in Pretty Woman

KangaShade · 30/12/2020 10:07

I know someone from my youth who is now a very famous actress and I've heard people say "the only reason she's so famous is because she got her tits out early on in her career". It's infuriating as she's a brilliant actress but who knows what would have happened to her career if she'd have refused? Women can never win.

unchienandalusia · 30/12/2020 10:10

I used to be an actor. Totally depends on the role / context.

BreakOnThrough · 30/12/2020 10:25

Yes for me, if that was the career I wanted then I'd be prepared to do that. It will almost certainly become a requirement for a role at some stage.

For me personally, it's not a big deal since i naked in front of other regularly for sports changing room. It is something I grew up with.

quirkyquails · 30/12/2020 10:38

I wouldn't act in a horror film so no, I wouldn't

rattusrattus20 · 30/12/2020 10:40

I think if I had the body for it, probably.

MaLarkinn · 30/12/2020 10:41

They’d pay me more to put my clothes back on

Godimabitch · 30/12/2020 10:44

I would.

Everyone has a right to their own boundaries though and you don't have to but you're obviously restricting the roles you can take.

corythatwas · 30/12/2020 10:51

"Random person who "did some acting in thier twenties" gets auctions for TV shows with, what 15 mill an episode budget?"

Ah, the good old MN suspiciousness.

Might not an equally good way of expressing what the OP told us be "trained actress who has previously worked in the profession has returned after a career gap and aquired a pro-active agent"?

She didn't say she'd been given an audition, only that she'd been asked (not clear if by the casting agent for the film of just by her own agent) to send in a self-reel.

Why is she any more random than the countless people who have got acting parts in large-budget films straight after drama school?

AgeLikeWine · 30/12/2020 10:52

I would have no problem being topless, they are just boobs and I have never been particularly bothered who sees them. I go topless on holiday, lived in a pretty relaxed mixed-sex house when I was a student etc. I would be less comfortable with anything more than that, though.

Northernmummy80 · 30/12/2020 10:55

I’m pretty sure they would pay me more to keep my clothes on 😂🤣

Serious note do what you feel comfortable with, if it’s a tasteful scene and make sense why not. If it’s just a bit of nudity for the sake of it definitely not.

EmilySpinach · 30/12/2020 10:59

A good friend of mine from uni is a fairly successful actress and does quite a lot of telly. She has done some nudity. She says that she is happy to do it but only if it is equitable to her male co-stars, so for example she would not have done the Emilia Clarke scene described above where she was naked around lots of clothed men. I imagine Emilia Clarke wouldn't do this now, either. It was noticeable as GOT continued and her star power increased that there was less inequality in her nude scenes. Michel Huisman went full frontal nude in a love scene with her in a later series.

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