Emma Thompson Goes Completely Nude in New Movie

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on June 20, 2022. It has since been updated.

Emma Thompson is opening up about the challenges of going nude on screen at 62 and why she wants to be a role model for changing the way women’s bodies are portrayed in film. Thompson, now 63, has only been naked once in her career, when she starred in the 1990 film “The Tall Guy,” opposite Jeff Goldblum. She then bared it all for her role in the 2022 film “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.” She spoke about the film industry’s unrealistic expectations of women and how she wants to help create change. If “you want to see the iconography of the female body change, you have to be part of the change,” Thompson told The New York Times. In the new film, Thompson plays Nancy Stokes, a conservative widow and schoolteacher who has never had an orgasm. She hires a male escort, played by Daryl McCormack, for a date in hopes of experiencing one in the sex-positive British dramedy. The film is directed by Sophie Hyde.

LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 19: Emma Thompson joins Extinction Rebellion protest at Oxford Circus on April 19, 2019, in London, England. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

“It’s a huge challenge to be naked at 62,” the actor said. “Nothing has changed in the terrible demands that are placed on women in the real world, but also in acting,” Thompson said of the demands placed on women and female actors, Entertainment Weekly reported. “This thing of having to be thin is the same as it’s always been, and actually I think in some ways it’s worse now.” Thompson said many will relate to her character, who could easily be your teacher or your mother. She rebels against everything that defines her to seek out an escort to experience an orgasm. “Yes, she made the most extraordinary decision to do something very unusual and brave and revolutionary,” Thompson said.

Best of luck to you, Leo Grande/Searchlight Pictures / 20th Century Studios

Thompson said she had to reach a new level of vulnerability to play the character, particularly the nude scenes. Thompson, McCormack and Hyde said they spent one of their rehearsal days naked. “Sophie, Daryl and I rehearsed completely naked and talked about our bodies, talked about our relationships with our bodies, drew them, talked about the things we find difficult, the things we like about them, described each other’s bodies,” Thompson said during a discussion at Cinema Cafe. “She just stands in front of a mirror and drops her robe,” Thompson said of her character in the film. She also spoke candidly about the complexities of a woman’s orgasm. “I can’t just have an orgasm. I need time. I need affection. You can’t just run up to the clitoris and wave it around and hope for the best. That’s not going to work, guys,” she said.



She emphasized the importance of portraying natural bodies on screen. “I don’t think I could have done that at the age I am now,” she said. “And yet, of course, the age I am now makes it extremely challenging because we’re not used to seeing untreated bodies on screen.” Thompson spoke about how the portrayal of women affected her growing up. “To be honest, I’m never going to be happy with my body. That’s never going to happen,” she said. “I was brainwashed too early. I can’t undo those neural pathways.”



Thompson hopes the film will spark sex-positive conversations. “I know the history in this country, particularly of the puritanical responses to sex. The inability to talk about it or acknowledge the difficult nature of it. The conversations that are had in my culture about sex are either depressing or just uninspiring,” she said in an interview with Variety. “We have a history of suppressing pleasure and in particular a history of suppressing sex, suppressing female sexual pleasure,” she added.