Keira Knightley will no longer shoot sex scenes directed by men, in part for vanity reasons, she says – definitive proof of that everybody has physical insecurities – and partly because she’s tired of ‘standing naked in front of a group of men.’ I guess I wouldn’t like that too!
Knightley discussed her decision on a recent episode of the Chanel Connects podcast, talking to filmmaker Lulu Wang and Diane Solway, the feature films and culture director of W Magazine. After two decades of acting, Knightley said she has become acutely aware of the male gaze, and how it often shapes the way sex is portrayed in movies:
“I don’t want it to be those horrible sex scenes where you are completely absorbed and everyone is growling, “she said.” I’m not interested in that.
‘I feel very uncomfortable now trying to portray the male gaze. That said, there are times when I go, ‘Yeah, I totally see where this sex would be really good in this movie and you really just need someone who looks good.’
“So that’s why you can use someone else, because I’m too vain and the body has now had two children and I just don’t want to be in front of a group of naked men.”
According to the Hollywood ReporterKnightley added a “no nudity” clause to her contract in 2015 after becoming a mother. However, in her conversation with Wang and Solway, she does not have an “absolute ban” on sex scenes. She would still consider shooting a nude scene, she said, but only if the film needed to address topics like motherhood or body acceptance – and only if the scene was directed by a woman.
“When it was about motherhood, about how extraordinary that body is, about how suddenly you look at this body, you have to know that and it is yours and it is seen in a very different way and it has changed in a way that is unfathomable to me. you before you become a mother, then, yes, I would be all set to explore that with a woman who would understand that, ”she said.
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It’s hardly for me to say, but this all sounds eminently reasonable to me. Considering everything we’ve learned over the years certain drivers– as well as that of the industry general disregard for the comfort and safety of women – it is more than understandable that actors want to set some strict boundaries.