Celebs Who Regretted Doing Nude Scenes
For a film or television actor, appearing nude onscreen is often simply part of the job. Sometimes onscreen nudity is integral to a film's plot, furthering the storyline or conveying realism — something that's particularly true when it comes to sex scenes, which can appear downright hokey if actors are simulating sex while fully clothed. Then, of course, there are those occasions when on-camera nudity can be completely gratuitous, with no intent other than titillating the audience (a phenomenon that may have reached its zenith during the 1980s, with the likes of R-rated comedies such as "Porky's," and "Spring Break").
Those actors who do agree to strip down for the camera may be proud of those scenes, justifying their nudity as an artistic expression, with their nakedness perhaps expressing a character's vulnerability in that moment, or simply because that nudity is integral to the plot.
Occasionally, though, actors will speak out about a nude scene — or even multiple scenes — from past projects with a sense of remorse, revealing that if they were given the opportunity to do it all over again, they would have kept their clothes on. With that in mind, read on for a roundup of celebs who have regretted doing nude scenes.
Sharon Stone still feels the repercussions from that infamous Basic Instinct scene
One of the most controversial moments in American cinema took place in the interrogation scene in 1992's "Basic Instinct," in which Sharon Stone repeatedly crosses and uncrosses her legs to reveal that she's gone commando beneath her white dress. That single scene has been discussed and analyzed ad infinitum, and Stone has been living with the fallout for more than three decades.
In her memoir, "The Beauty of Living Twice," Stone alleges that she was hoodwinked into taking off her underwear in the midst of filming. It wasn't until she viewed a final cut of the film that she realized what had occurred. "That was how I saw my vagina-shot for the first time, long after I'd been told, 'We can't see anything — I just need you to remove your panties, as the white is reflecting the light, so we know you have panties on,'" she wrote, as excerpted by Vanity Fair. In fact, Stone was so incensed that she stormed into the projection booth and slapped the face of director Paul Verhoeven.
Asked about an "XXX" cut of the film being released to mark its 30th anniversary, Stone told "A Current Affair" (via People) that there was nothing she could do to prevent the even-steamier version from being released. "Regrets are like farts, you can't get them back," she opined. "Once they're out, they're stinky and gone."
Emily Blunt feels she's appeared nude onscreen enough already, so why do it again?
Emily Blunt has stripped down in a few films, including opposite Tom Hanks in "Charlie Wilson's War." She'd also filmed a nude scene for her 2015 drama "Sicario," which didn't make it into the movie's final cut. In an interview with Howard Stern, as reported by Us Weekly, she explained that the flesh-baring scene was excised, and explained why: "But it came out because we didn't agree with it." When asked by Stern to identify the "we" she'd referred to, Blunt quipped, "My [breasts] ... [They said], 'We're not doing it.'"
Meanwhile, in a 2016 interview with The Telegraph, Blunt was, well, blunt about why she'd decided she wouldn't be doing any more nude scenes in future movies. "I'm not so keen on doing nudity, because I'm not 22 [anymore]," said Blunt, who is the mother of two children she shares with husband John Krasinski.
She also made it clear that no longer showing skin onscreen had nothing to do with prudishness, but due to other factors entirely. "And actually it's not so much a moral thing as, 'I've done it before and do I really want to do it again?' Does it serve the film or is it gratuitous and seeing someone's [breasts] for the sake of it?" she said. "Because I don't think it's necessary most of the time."
Downton Abbey's Jessica Brown-Findlay feels 'naive' for stripping down in her first film
To fans of "Downton Abbey," Jessica Brown-Findlay is best known for portraying Lady Sybil Crowley, whose unexpected death was a major shocker for viewers.
While playing Lady Sybil proved to be her breakout role, she had several screen credits before that. In fact, her first major screen role came in the 2011 film "Albatross," in which she played an aspiring writer who has an affair with her friend's father. In one scene, she lifts up her shirt to display her bare breasts — something she now regrets. Speaking with Radio Times (as reported by ABC News), Brown-Findlay blamed her own inexperience, saying she didn't realize that she could have refused. "To be honest, 'Albatross' was naivete and not knowing that I could say no. I had no idea what was going to happen and thought I was going to be shot from behind," she said.
She also got naked in a subsequent project, the 2012 TV miniseries "Labyrinth," but explained why the experience was so different from that earlier one — even if she wasn't particularly comfortable doing it. "In 'Labyrinth,' it is a very fleeting moment that we shot in one take," she explained to US Magazine, "but I did find it very odd being naked in front of lots of people." In any case, it appears unlikely that she'll be appearing nude onscreen again any time soon. "But actually," she said, "it's not something I would do again."
Mary Louise Parker remained 'bitter' about being 'goaded into' Weeds nude scene
In Showtime's "Weeds," Mary Louise Parker starred as a suburban soccer mom left destitute after her husband's death who begins selling marijuana to make ends meet. Because the series aired on a cable channel and not broadcast TV, nudity and profanity were the rule, not the exception.
That nudity extended to Parker, who appeared stark naked while soaking in a bathtub during the Season 4 finale. In an interview with More, as reported by Entertainment Weekly, she admitted that she wished she hadn't. "I didn't think I needed to be naked, and I fought with the director about it, and now I'm bitter," Parker said. "I knew it was going to be on the Internet: 'Mary Louise shows off her big nipples.' I wish I hadn't done that. I was goaded into it."
However, in a subsequent interview with TV Guide, Parker insisted she wasn't as regretful about that nude scene as her remarks may have appeared. "They made it sound like I was like, 'They made me take my clothes off and chained me to the bathtub,'" she joked, clarifying that it was the way the scene had been edited that she took issue with, not her nudity. "I mean, if you know me, it's like, someone sneezes and I take my clothes off," she said, insisting she had no problem whatsoever with getting nude. "I'm always naked," she added. "I'm naked right now, in fact."
Natalie Portman's feelings about onscreen nudity have evolved
Natalie Portman has appeared nude in two films: director Miloš Forman's "Goya's Ghosts" and Wes Anderson's short film "Hotel Chevalier." That was surprising, considering that she was once so opposed to onscreen nudity that director Wayne Wang removed a sex scene involving her character from the script for the 1999 film "Anywhere But Here" after she threatened to drop out of the film rather than strip naked. "I loved the part," she told Entertainment Weekly, "but I just wasn't ready for that."
As she told The Guardian several years later, her views had clearly shifted when it came to Anderson's short film. "I think it's beautiful and I think it's tastefully done and I love the short," she said. "And it still wasn't like full nudity."
In fact, Portman made it clear that she's all in to get naked if it's an integral part of the story. What she does take issue with, however, is when those scenes are taken out of context and displayed online. "I don't really have regrets," she told MTV News. "It's more that I don't like misappropriation of stuff, like when you create something as part of a story and then a piece of it ends up on a porn site ... Because I really don't have an issue with it artistically. I just don't like when people take it out of a story."
Kate Winslet wishes she didn't get quite so naked in Titanic
Of all the movies in which Kate Winslet has appeared, the one that tends to stand out in most people's memories is "Titanic." In the Oscar-winning 1997 blockbuster, Winslet removes her clothing in one sexy scene as her character, Rose, poses au naturel for Leonardo DiCaprio's Jack to sketch.
During a screening celebrating the film's 2012 rerelease, Winslet joked that she wasn't planning on watching that particular scene. "I'll be in the bar by that point," she told The Sun, admitting regret in hindsight. "I wish I hadn't shown so much flesh," she added, "but I was young and I knew I had things to prove." Over the years, though, Winslet has demonstrated a willingness to get naked in front of the camera; she also appeared nude in various other films, including "Hamlet," "Little Children," and "Hideous Kinky."
Of course, Winslet had offered similar sentiments before. "I think I won't [get naked] again: a) I can't keep getting away with it, and b) I don't want to become 'that actress who always gets her kit off,'" she told Time in 2009. However, as anyone who witnessed her graphic sex scenes with Saoirse Ronan in 2020's "Ammonite" can attest, Winslet definitely didn't stick to that particular edict, and it seems that her views about onscreen nudity have shifted over the years.
Jennifer Lawrence had to get 'really, really drunk' to get naked in Passengers
Jennifer Lawrence co-starred with Chris Pratt in the 2016 sci-fi film "Passengers," a significant role in that it marked the first time she ever simulated coitus on camera. "I had my first real sex scene a couple weeks ago and it was really bizarre, it was really weird," Lawrence admitted during a roundtable interview with The Hollywood Reporter. While she conceded that there were no real problems with the conditions and that everything had been done in the manner it should have been, it had still felt very strange to her. In order to relax enough for that scene, she "got really, really drunk, but then that led to more anxiety. When I got home I was like, 'What have I done?'"
Another milestone came in the 2018 film "Red Sparrow," in which she portrayed a Russian ballet dancer recruited to be a Soviet spy — and featured her first onscreen nudity. During an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" to promote the movie, she was asked why she decided to get naked onscreen for the first time. "I just got hot!" she joked.
But seriously, folks: Lawrence explained that she loved the script so much that she was willing to do whatever it took to play the role, even if that meant exiting her comfort zone with respect to clothing. "I just didn't want to miss out on it because of my weird insecurities," she said.
Emilia Clarke regretted her Game of Thrones nudity when she realized her dad would be watching
"Game of Thrones" became as renowned for its graphic sex scenes as it was for its gripping fantasy drama — guest star Ian McShane famously described the show as nothing but "[breasts] and dragons." Among the various actors on the show to get naked is Emilia Clarke, whose character — Daenerys "Mother of Dragons" Targaryen — was frequently nude in the series' early seasons.
Appearing on Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast, Clarke explained she'd just recently graduated from drama school when she got the part, and initially didn't realize just how naked she'd be, nor how frequently. "I'd been on a film set twice before then — and now I'm on a film set completely naked with all of these people ..." she recalled. Over time, Clarke explained, she'd learned to stand up for herself when it comes to how much skin she'll allowed to be shown onscreen. "I've had fights on set before where I'm like, 'No, the sheet stays up', and they're like, 'You don't wanna disappoint your 'Game Of Thrones' fans'. And I'm like, 'F*** you,'" she declared.
Of course, that didn't help when she was with her parents viewing a pivotal episode of "Game of Thrones" together, apparently forgetting about her lack of clothing. "I ended up sitting them down and being like, 'Let's watch it' — and then instantly regretting it," Clarke told Radio Times.
Taylor Lautner wishes he'd worn a shirt more often in the Twilight movies
Taylor Lautner made his mark in the "Twilight" movies as teenage werewolf Jacob Black, who frequently appeared onscreen sans-shirt. As fans of the film franchise noted, those shirtless scenes became fewer and further between as the series progressed — something that Lautner himself is proud to have made happen. By the fourth film, "Breaking Dawn Part 1," Lautner's chiseled abs — which had enjoyed ample screen time in the previous film — were limited to brief cameos.
"There was some negotiating for sure, oh yeah. There were more [shirtless scenes] when I read the original script, trust me," Lautner told MTV News, explaining that he'd reduced the amount of time he'd have to be shirtless in the film. "Everybody on set, the crew, the cast are wearing clothes; bundles of clothes. And I'm just chillin' there naked," he explained.
Years later, he came to realize that being forced to display his buff bod in all those "Twilight" flicks had left him with a certain degree of body dysmorphia. "When I was in it, when I was 16 through 20 years old, starring in this franchise where my character is known for taking his shirt off every other second, no, I did not know that it was affecting me or going to affect me in the future with body image," Lautner told People in 2023.
Casey Wilson regrets getting naked in a movie — even though she wrote the scene calling for nudity
Casey Wilson is known to comedy aficionados for such TV series as the sitcom "Happy Endings" and the Wall Street dramedy "Black Monday." Back in 2013, she starred alongside June Diane Raphael in "Ass Backwards," a pageant-themed comedy movie that the two women also wrote.
A scene in that film required the women to drop trou — in fact, it's the opening scene of the movie, a clever reference to the title. "We open on a shot of our asses," Wilson told Entertainment Weekly. "There is no going back from that."
When discussing the movie with Vulture, Wilson admitted that getting naked in front of a camera wasn't something about which she was particularly comfortable — even though the person who'd written that scene was none other than Wilson herself. "We wrote that the movie opens on a shot of our bare asses, and when we were on all fours in a van on the side of the road, with our makeup artist lovingly touching up our asses with ass makeup, I thought, 'Why did we write this?'" she joked. "And I needed an ass double, but we didn't have the budget!"
Helen Mirren has never been comfortable with onscreen nudity
Helen Mirren may be one of the most celebrated actors of her generation, but she's also done more than her share of nude scenes. These have extended from the 1981 King Arthur epic "Excalibur" to the 2003 comedy "Calendar Girls," which she filmed when she was in her late 50s.
Speaking with the Daily Mail, Mirren admitted that when she was younger, she felt nudity was a way of challenging herself as an actor. "I didn't enjoy those scenes, but I felt it was important for me to push myself out of my comfort zones," she explained.
Of all her onscreen nude scenes, the one film in which she didn't mind being naked was, ironically, her most scandalous: "Caligula," the X-rated historical drama produced by Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione. In his review of the 1980 film, late critic Roger Ebert summed up the general consensus to the movie — widely considered one of the worst films ever committed to celluloid — when he wrote, "It is not good art, it is not good cinema, and it is not good porn." Mirren, however, recalled the experience of making the film to be the most comfortable she'd ever been with getting naked in front of the camera. "Everyone was naked in that," she said in a 2015 interview with People, as reported by Vanity Fair. "It was like showing up for a nudist camp every day. You felt embarrassed if you had your clothes on in that movie."
Ben Stiller regrets showing his naked butt after realizing he could have used a body double
Ben Stiller isn't one of those actors who typically gets naked for a film role, but it has happened: in the 2004 rom-com "Along Came Polly," in which he starred alongside Jennifer Aniston. In one quick scene, viewers are treated to a glimpse of Stiller's naked butt. "It was very quick, [director] John [Hamburg] promised me he would cut it out of the movie if it didn't get a laugh," Stiller said in an interview with Phase 9 Entertainment while promoting the film.
Apparently, that scene did stir up enough laughter to make the final cut, even though Stiller admitted he hadn't actually viewed that scene, since at that point he hadn't watched the whole film through to the end.
In fact, Stiller admitted that he was such a novice at onscreen nudity that he didn't realize that he didn't actually have to be naked. "Also I was told later on I could've had a double and nobody told me that ... " he added. Looking back on the experience, he told Blackfilm.com that if could do it all over again, he would have jumped at the chance to have someone else's derriere duplicate his own. "I wish I had. I wish I had," he mused.
Amanda Seyfried only agreed to go nude for her first film because she was worried she'd be fired
Amanda Seyfried has experienced plenty of Hollywood success, ranging from the beloved "Mamma Mia!" movies to her turn in "Mean Girls" to portraying Silicon Valley scam artist Elizabeth Holmes in the TV miniseries "The Dropout."
During the course of that career, Seyfriend has mostly chosen to avoid nude scenes — after getting naked in one of her earliest films. As she explained in a 2022 interview with Porter, she felt at the time that she had no choice but to do what she was told — even if it made her deeply uncomfortable. "Being 19, walking around without my underwear on — like, are you kidding me? How did I let that happen?" Seyfried recalled, without referencing the project by name. She continued, "Oh, I know why: I was 19 and I didn't want to upset anybody, and I wanted to keep my job. That's why."
Meanwhile, Seyfriend also recalled a cringe-inducing moment when she and her parents were watching an episode of her HBO series "Big Love," in which she was featured in a steamy love scene — that she'd completely forgotten about. "I was sitting there watching and all of a sudden, it cut to a scene where two people are having sex, and it's me! Having sex! I just thought, 'No, no, no!'" she told The Telegraph. "It was so much more graphic than I remembered. I was horrified."
Maria Schneider never shot another nude scene after Last Tango in Paris
Despite a lengthy roster of screen credits extending from the late 1960s until the late 2000s, Maria Schneider — who died at age 58 in 2011 — remains best known for "Last Tango in Paris," directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. In the still-controversial film, Schneider — then 19 — played a young French woman who embarks on a torrid affair with a middle-aged American, played by 48-year-old Marlon Brando.
Speaking with Daily Mail in 2007, Schneider revealed that she'd never had issues with onscreen nudity — until filming "Last Tango in Paris," that is. "I never went naked in a movie again after 'Last Tango,' even though I was offered many such roles," she said. The reason, she explained, had to do with the film's most notorious scene, in which Brando's character Paul rapes her character Jeanne — a scene she contended wasn't in the script, and which she hadn't been told about until immediately before it was going to be shot. "I felt humiliated and to be honest, I felt a little raped, both by Marlon and by Bertolucci," she said.
In a 2011 television interview that resurfaced in 2016, Bertolucci confirmed that he surprised her with that scene because he apparently wanted to capture her real anger and humiliation on camera, not just an actor's depiction of it. Asked if he regretted what he'd done, Bertolucci replied, "No. But I feel guilty ... but I do not regret."
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).