Here's how it works: somebody writes the script, putting lots of nudity. A member of the production team reads the script and develops a cast list, what they call "a breakdown." This list goes out over--you guessed it--a breakdown service, sent to agents and managers. It describes the character, and then it may say something like, "Nudity required," or "Full frontal nudity required," or even, "Some partial nudity may be required," which means if you're a big enough star, you can get out of it, but if not, you're not going to get the part unless you're willing to strip, and, in the case of The Tudors, simulate sex with people you hardly know.
I speak from experience. As an actor, I once got a fabulous role in a movie. The breakdown listed "some partial nudity may be required." Several friends who auditioned for other parts in this major film went through callback after callback. I, however, was offered a star-making role after one single audition.
The caveat was the topless scene. I didn't worried about it, because I thought that partial nudity "may be" required meant that I could say no.
Well, maybe if I had been a somebody. And it didn't matter that the director had so much loved my performance. I was expendable. Being topless was "historically accurate," he said.
I pointed out that it was historically accurate that guys had penises during sexual encounters, even though, if they show a penis, they're rated x and lose a ton of business, whereas if they show, oh, say, ariola but not full nipple, or as is the case in the photo above, curve of the buttock base, but not the buttocks itself, or, as is the case for many of these young women, pretty much full everything, then they get better sales all over the place (and the actress involved gets to see herself through infinity at websites like "Thenudityleeringguy." Just what you want to show your children.)
Come on, put a chemise on these girls. No woman in this era *ever* wore a corset without a chemise!
So, the pressure is on for young woman to show as much as possible. I would venture to say that Gabrielle Anwar, today, is a big enough star that she doesn't have to get totally naked (anymore), but Natalie Dormer sure does. And those young women in bit parts will have already learned that they are as disposable as Kleenex, and have made their decisions accordingly.
It can be so hard to say no. I know this from experience. When I turned down that film, I lost my powerful, supposedly adoring, boutique agent. When I told people what I had done, successful actors looked at me like I was insane. That decision was basically the end of my acting career. The young woman who took the part after I turned it down wound up having her own TV series shortly after, along with lovely roles in films, even now. When I said no, and hung up the phone, I remember hyperventilating. But ultimately, for me, it was simple. I don't like to be exploited and this felt--and feels, watching The Tudors--like exploitation. I have friends--raised in Marin County, in and out of hot tubs-- for whom film nudity is no biggy.
Still, even they can't deny that their naked selves become commodities. Sigh.
And guess what? No matter how many times they have to take their shirts off, nudity is nowhere near the same problem for men. Okay, maybe they have to work out a little more, but they are not pressured to put their--as children would say, "private parts," on public display. |
| Ruda Getmintas, who plays Bessie Blount, is so exploited in The Tudors that you barely notice she does a decent job when she's clothed. |
Still, it makes me oddly grateful that I made the decision I did. Even if it meant leaving acting. So many female actors, including those in the Tudors, are very smart people. You can tell by their performances. But their brains don't matter when it comes to the nudity clause. There, it's all about T and A. Plus those countless unknown guys leering over them on the internet through all eternity.
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