Emma Thompson Opens Up About Doing A Fully Nude Scene At 62, And 'Dreadful Demands' On Women To Have Perfect Bodies

Emma Thompson has opened up on the "dreadful demands" imposed on women to have perfect bodies. The British actor went fully nude for her new movie "Good Luck to You, Leo Grande" at the age of 62. "It's very challenging to be nude at 62," said the actor. The Academy-Award winner also spoke of the unrealistic expectations the movie industry has of women. "Nothing has changed in the dreadful demands made upon women in the real-world world but also in acting," said Thompson about the demands on women and woman actors, in particular, reported Entertainment Weekly. "This thing of having to be thin is still the same as it ever was, and actually in some ways I think it's worse now."

Emma Thompson stars as Nancy Stokes, a widowed schoolteacher who hires a male escort, played by Daryl McCormack, for a date, hoping to experience an org**m for the first time in the sex-positive British dramedy. Emma Thompson shares the intimate scene with Daryl McCormack in their new film and said that her director Sophie Hyde also disrobed to help prepare the actor for the role. "Sophie, Daryl, and I rehearsed entirely nude and talked about our bodies, talked about our relationship with our bodies, drew them, discussed the things that we find difficult about, things we like about them, described one another's bodies," said Thompson shared during a Cinema Cafe discussion.

"She stands in front of a mirror alone and she drops her robe," said Thompson of her character in the movie. "Good Luck to You, Leo Grande" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The actor added that it's important to document natural bodies in movies. Thompson said she couldn't have done it at any other age and added that it was incredibly challenging. "I don't think I could've done it before the age that I am," she said. "And yet, of course, the age that I am makes it extremely challenging because we aren't used to seeing untreated bodies on the screen."

She also spoke of her chemistry with McCormack and how they bonded in preparation for the intimate scenes. Thompson said the pair took walks around London's Hampstead Heath so they got to know each other more. "That was very important that we could hold onto each other and laugh," said Thompson. "Actually, that's what we've done the entire time: held onto each other, slid about, and laugh. That walk kind of was emblematic of the whole journey."

Thompson is hoping the film sparks sex-positive conversations. "I know the history in this country, particularly, of the puritanical responses to sex. The inability to talk about it, or recognize its difficult nature. The conversations that exist around sex in my culture are either depressing or just not very inspiring," she said in an interview with Variety. She also said her character could be relatable to so many, because sex has always been centered around man's pleasure because a woman's pleasure is disapproved of in most religions. "We’ve got a history of repressing pleasure, and in particular history of repressing sex, repressing female sexual pleasure," she added.

You can catch Emma Thompson's conversation with Cinema Cafe here: