“It’s very hard to be naked at 62”: Emma Thompson confides in a difficult shoot

For his next movie Good luck to you Leo Grande, Emma Thompson had to shoot sex and nude scenes. The 62-year-old British actress confided in an interview how difficult it is to stand naked in front of a film crew, especially if you are an older woman. She denounces the “terrible demands” placed on actresses to meet certain expectations about their physical appearance.

Present at the Sundance festival, the film Good luck to you Leo Grande tells the story of a widowed teacher who hires a sex worker, hoping to experience an orgasm for the first time in her life. A scenario that has the merit of bringing a still taboo topic to the screen: the naked body of an older woman. But for Emma Thompson, the film’s lead actress, filming the nude scenes was not an easy experience. ‘That’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do! », she said during a press conference on the sidelines of the Sundance festival on Saturday, reports Marie Claire (in English).

In particular, the film has one scene that required a lot of prep work from the British actress, her acting partner Daryl McCormack, and Sophie Hyde, the film’s director. This is a scene where Nancy Stokes, the character played by Thomson, looks at herself in a mirror and takes off her dressing gown, finding herself completely naked.« Sophie [Hyde]Daryl and I rehearsed completely naked (…) [Nous] we talked about our relationship with our bodies, we drew it, we discussed the things we struggle with, the things we like about them, we described each other’s bodies”said Emma Thompson, quoted by: Marie Claire.

“Terrible demands” imposed on women

While appreciative of the care and attention that went into filming these sensitive scenes, Emma Thompson says: “It’s very hard to be naked at 62”. The two-time Oscar-winning actress denounces the strong pressure placed on actresses regarding their physical appearance, which only increases with age.

“Nothing has changed about the terrible demands placed on women in the real world, but also in the acting profession (…) The obligation to be thin is still the same and in some ways I even think it worse today.”

Emma Thompson, Marie Claire

This grueling movie experience, Emma Thompson says she couldn’t have done before she was the age she is now. “I don’t think I could have done it for my age. And yet my age makes it extremely difficult, of course, because we’re not used to seeing unretouched bodies on screen.”said the actress, preoccupied with Marie Claire.

A speech that recalls the pressure placed on women to fight against the aging of their bodies, still taboo on the screens.

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