Keira Knightley will no longer shoot nude scenes with male directors

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Keira Knightley is changing her stance on doing nude scenes in films. The actress, who has had a no-nudity clause in her contract since 2015, says that she would consider doing nude scenes again in the future but she will no longer do them for male directors. Knightley does not want to be the subject of the "male gaze" and stopped doing nude scenes after becoming a mother in 2015.

During a talk with the "Chanel Connects Podcast"  Knightly stated that she will not be "in those horrible sex scenes where you're all greased up and everybody is grunting. I'm not interested in doing that." The actress has done nude scenes in the past at various stages of her career but she doesn't see the need to do them now unless it's important to the story. "I don't. have an absolute ban, but I kind of do with men. It's partly vanity and also it's the male gaze."

Knightley expanded on part of the reason being vanity as to why she doesn't want to do nude scenes much anymore. She says "Because 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." When asked if there was a role she would consider doing nude scenes for, she said that role would have to focus on being a mother.

"If I was making a story that was about the journey of motherhood and body acceptance, I feel like, I'm sorry, but that would have to be with a female filmmaker. 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. But I feel very uncomfortable now trying to portray the male gaze."

I respect Knightley's position on this because doing nude scenes is vulnerable for anyone on set and I would imagine it's even more vulnerable for an actress that had to do them. There needs to be comfort level and the utmost respect to make sure that the actress isn't uneasy and I can understand why she feels like that level of comfort wouldn't be there with a male director. A female director could likely present a nude scene with an actress that would make her feel empowered rather than objectified and that really is the key difference. It also makes sense that her opinion on this would change after becoming a mother herself and feeling all the potential insecurity that may come about in regards to your body after having kids. You would need someone that understands all of those feelings and a male director simply couldn't relate to the position he would be putting her in.

Do YOU agree with Keira Knightley's opinion on doing nude scenes?