Knightley Won’t do sex scenes if director is male
Pride & Prejudice actress Keira Knightley says if a man is directing a movie, she would not act in any sex scenes out of her own “vanity” and discomfort with the “male gaze.”
“If I was making a story that was about that journey of motherhood and body acceptance, I feel like — I’m sorry — but that would have to be with a female filmmaker,” the 35-year-old actress said. “I don’t have an absolute ban, but I kind of do with men.”
She went on: “I don’t want it to be those horrible sex scenes where you’re all greased up and everybody is grunting. I’m not interested in doing that.”
In Knightley’s most recent film, a British comedic drama, she portrayed a feminist protester at the 1970 Miss World beauty pageant.
“I feel very uncomfortable now trying to portray the male gaze. Saying that, there’s times where I go, ‘yeah, I completely see where this sex would be really good in this film and you basically just need somebody to look hot.’ So therefore you can use somebody else, because I’m too vain and (my) body has had two children now and I’d just rather not stand in front of a group of men naked.”
In 2015, after she became a mother, Knightley started adding no-nudity clauses to her film contracts, the Hollywood reporter wrote.