Emma Thompson approached her first fully nude scene at the age of 62.
The two-time Oscar winner opened up about the preparation that went into the intimate scene, which she shares with costar Daryl McCormack in the upcoming dramedy film Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.
The British movie tells the story of a widowed teacher named Nancy Stokes (played by Emma), who hires a male escort (played by Daryl) in hopes of having an orgasm for the first time.
“[Director] Sophie Hyde, 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,” Emma said during the Sundance Film Festival.
Emma revealed it was “very challenging” to do so at the age of 62, especially given the “dreadful demands” placed on women to meet a certain body type.
“It’s very challenging to be nude at 62,” she said, adding that her character just “stands in front of a mirror alone and she drops her robe.”
“Nothing has changed in the dreadful demands made upon women in the real-world world but also in acting,” she continued. “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.”