British actress Eleanor Tomlinson has given a full explanation of why she has made a default decision not to film sex scenes, with very few, fully justified exceptions.
The star of BBC drama Poldark, and an upcoming Channel 4 drama The Couple Next Door about intimate partner-swapping, told The Times newspaper that, for one particular sex scene in the latter, she was convinced on-screen nudity would distract from the narrative.
She said:
“I have done nudity before but, for me, it’s based on each project and how necessary I feel it is. And I didn’t feel like it was for this. I mean, there was a conversation where they were pushing for it and the harder they pushed for it, the more I felt like saying, ‘No, you’re just not being creative here. There are so many more interesting ways that you can show this.’ So much of it comes down to the chemistry between the actors and working with the intimacy coordinators…
“You don’t need to show everything, because ultimately that immediately pauses everyone’s concentration. They’ve just seen something and they’re actually not invested in the scene any more. I think because [the show] is so obviously about sexual exploration, it would have been such an obvious choice to have nudity in it. I actually think not having it makes it more interesting.”
Tomlinson added that, for young actresses in particular, it’s necessary to think long-term when considering participating in such scenes:
“There’s an element of self-preservation that comes into it because you’re opening yourself up to be screenshot and paused, and those pictures end up online and will for ever be there. So it’s a very serious thing that you have to decide. I think if you have the confidence to do it as an actor or actress, great. And it’s not that I don’t have the confidence; it’s just that for me it has to be character-driven.”
Read the full interview with Eleanor Tomlinson here
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