Famous actress Joanna Lumley from “The Avengers” and “James and the Giant Peach” said in a recent interview that there’s an expectation for female actresses to strip down.
The famous actress with over 100 on-screen credits to her name has been actively involved in Hollywood since the 60s. She referenced acting in nude scenes and sex scenes as being “all this ghastly stuff we have to pretend to do,” according to The Guardian. (RELATED: Famous Daughter Of Former Trump Advisor Debuts As A Playboy Bunny)
Joanna Lumley Calls Movie Sex Scenes Exploitative and ‘Revolting’: ‘Thank God I’m Beyond It Now’ https://t.co/6Bg4cb9XG9
— People (@people) June 21, 2023
Lumley admitted she didn’t enjoy sex scenes in television and film back then, and she certainly doesn’t enjoy them now.
She recalled being expected to be objectified when she was a young actress trying to make her mark. “Oh, everybody stripped,” she said. “Everybody had to, from Diana Rigg to Julie Christie, we all had to take at least our tops off in something. It was standard and it was this, ‘You’re not a real actress unless you take your top off,'” she told The Guardian. Women “had to” show a little if they wanted to obtain a role or secure their job, once they clinched the part.
“Nobody liked it, like nobody likes intimate kissing or sex scenes,” she said, according to The Guardian.
“I don’t know why people write them and I don’t know why we watch them,” Lumley said.
Lumley was asked how she felt about the pressure to do topless scenes in her earlier days.
“You do it with hatred. Not hatred, but sort of sullenly,” she said, before admitting it all felt very exploitative to her.
“Men were always paid more, always top dog, and you could be sacked from a film if you didn’t take your top off. So then a lot of people go, ‘Shall I just take my top off and remain in the film?’ It was a different world,” she said.
Lumley expressed gratitude that she was “beyond it now” thanks to the fact that she’s now 77 and has already defined herself in Hollywood.