Actress not interested in shooting nude scenes directed by men
Keira Knightley is taking a stand for female empowerment. So much so, she even has it in her contract.
The British actress doesn’t “have an absolute ban” on shooting nude scenes, but she made it clear that she’s not interested in doing anymore with male directors.
“If it was about motherhood, about how extraordinary that body is, about how suddenly you’re looking at this body that you’ve got to know and is your own and it’s seen in a completely different way and it’s changed in ways which are unfathomable to you before you become a mother, then yeah, I would totally be up for exploring that with a woman who would understand that,” Knightley said during an appearance on the Chanel Connects podcast.
The Academy Award-nominated actress added that her decision to not shoot such scenes under the direction of men is “partly vanity and also it’s the male gaze.”
During the chat, Knightley explained to “The Farewell” filmmaker Lulu Wang and writer-producer Diane Solway about her decision to include a nonudity clause to her contract since she became a mother.
“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 married mother of two said.
“I don’t want it to be those horrible sex scenes where you’re all greased up and everybody is grunting,” she furthered. “I’m not interested in doing that.”
Knightley, who has starred in critically acclaimed films such as “Pride and Prejudice,” “The Imitation Game” and “Collette,” noted while she understands some sex scenes in films are necessary for the story, filmmakers can use someone else.
“I’m too vain and the body has had two children now, and I’d just rather not stand in front of a group of men naked,” the Chanel spokeswoman added.
Knightley welcomed daughter Edie in 2015 and daughter Delilah in 2019 with husband, musician James Righton.