Keira Knightley will no longer shoot sex scenes directed by men, partly for reasons of vanity, she says – definitive proof that all she has bodily insecurities – and partly because she is tired of “standing in front of a group of naked men”. I also don’t think I would like that very much!
Knightley discussed her decision in a recent episode of the Chanel Connects podcast, in a conversation with filmmaker Lulu Wang and Diane Solway, the director of resources and culture at W Magazine. After two decades of acting, Knightley said he became acutely aware of the male gaze and how it usually determines how sex is portrayed in the film:
“I don’t want it to be those horrible sex scenes where you are all greasy and everyone is grunting, “she said.“ I’m not interested in doing that.
“I feel very uncomfortable now trying to portray the masculine look. Saying that, there are times when I say, ‘Yes, I completely see where that sex would be really good in this movie and you basically just need someone to look hot.’
“So you can use someone else, because I am very vain and the body has already had two children and I prefer not to stand in front of a group of naked men.”
According The Hollywood ReporterKnightley added a “nudity ban” clause to his contract in 2015 after becoming a mother. In her conversation with Wang and Solway, however, she has no “absolute ban” on sex scenes. She would still consider filming a nudity scene, she said, but only if the film required the service of subjects like motherhood or acceptance of the body – and only if the scene was directed by a woman.
“If it were about motherhood, about how extraordinary this body is, about how suddenly you are looking at this body that you need to know and that is yours and is seen in a completely different way and has changed in ways that are incomprehensible to you before to become a mother, so yes, I would be totally willing to explore it with a woman who would understand it, ”she said.
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It is not for me to say, but it all sounds eminently reasonable to me. Considering everything we’ve learned in recent years about certain directors– as well as industry general disrespect for comfort and safety of women – it is more than understandable that the actors want to outline some strict limits.