Anna Kendrick has a strict and unwavering rule when it comes to filming, and if you take a moment to go back and watch any of her movies that involve romance, there’s a good chance you’ll notice it right away.
It’s common for many actors to choose to get naked when filming scenes, whether it’s to bring more realism to the moment, like Margot Robbie does, or to make “a love story” more believable, as Jake Gyllenhaal has done.
However, Kendrick, who celebrates her 39th birthday today (9 August), has a completely understandable reason for why she’s comfortable with shooting sex scenes—just not with one specific aspect of them.
In a past interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, Kendrick talked about her 2020 show Love Life, where she portrays Darby, a woman navigating the ups and downs of finding love.
The HBO series follows her character’s journey from her first love all the way to her last, and along the way, it features a number of steamy, intimate scenes.
Despite being open to filming these kinds of scenes, Kendrick, known for her role in Pitch Perfect, made it clear that nudity is where she draws the line.
She explained her stance by saying: “My personal feelings on nudity – that I’m not really interested in nudity for me – stayed the same.
“I’ve never had a problem with simulated sex scenes – that feels like it’s about the character, whereas I only get one body, so nudity is more about me.”
In Love Life, which wrapped up after two seasons, Kendrick’s character finds herself going on plenty of dates, and naturally, some of these encounters lead to late-night activities in the bedroom.
Given the storyline, Kendrick knew from the start that sex scenes were going to be a big part of the show.
She shared her thoughts on this realization: “When we started filming, it dawned on me that in every single episode I was going to be doing a kissing scene or a sex scene with someone brand new.
“It was definitely weird to know that we were going to meet and within a week we were going to be in bed pretending to have sex!”
While sex scenes might be a staple in many shows and films, that doesn’t mean they’re comfortable for everyone involved.
Recently, the industry has seen an increase in the use of intimacy coordinators.
These professionals play a key role in making sure that the actors understand the scene, know exactly what’s required, and are comfortable with every single part of it. If they aren’t, they have the full right to refuse.
However, unlike Kendrick, not everyone in the industry has always felt empowered to voice their discomfort or felt that they could say no to nudity.
Emilia Clarke, who played Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones, opened up about her experiences with nudity during a 2019 appearance on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast.
Clarke shared how she often felt she didn’t deserve to feel uncomfortable on set, and how she would push herself through those difficult moments.
She recalled telling herself: “Whatever I’m feeling is wrong; I’m gonna go cry in the bathroom, and then I’m gonna come back and we’re gonna do the scene – it’s gonna be completely fine. But it was definitely hard.”
Fortunately, Clarke had her co-star Jason Momoa by her side, who made sure she was taken care of, ensuring she had a robe to cover herself between takes.
She added, “He took care of me, too, in an environment where I didn’t know I needed to be taken care of.”
