One thing actors deserve major credit for is performing in literally any nude scene. It takes a lot of courage to get naked in a room full of people (who are fully clothed and trying to get through their workday) only for that footage to be edited completely out of your control and released to the entire world. 

All actors have different preferences about the amount of skin they’ll show on camera — if any at all — and the decision almost unanimously comes down to whether or not nudity plays a role in the story and the character’s development. 

Emilia Clarke appeared naked frequently on Game of Thrones as Daenerys Targaryen, specifically (in her words!) season 1 had a “fuck-ton of nudity.” In hindsight, it was more than the actress was comfortable with, but she pointed to her inexperience as the reason she didn’t feel comfortable speaking up for herself. Emilia voiced her opinion — or outright refusal — as the seasons went on if the scene didn’t feel right. 

“I’m a lot more savvy with what I’m comfortable with, and what I am OK with doing,” she said on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast. “I’ve had fights on set before where I’m like, ‘No, the sheet stays up,’ and they’re like, ‘You don’t wanna disappoint your Game of Thrones fans.’ And I’m like, ‘Fuck you.’”

Preferences can change through an actor’s career. Emma Stone did her first nude scene in 2019’s The Favourite, nearly 14 years after she began her acting career.

“I had the sheet up around me, and as we were shooting it and we did a few takes, I said, ‘Can I please just be [naked]?’” she recalled to THR about filming. “Olivia [Colman] was like, ‘No, don’t do it!’ [Director] Yorgos [Lanthimos] was like, ‘Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”’And I was like, ‘Absolutely.’ I chose to do it. I was like, this makes sense to me.”

Some actors refuse to do any kind of nudity, whether it’s for personal or artistic reasons. 

It’s a no-go for Blake Lively, as she explained, “When I see nudity in movies, I am always distracted by it. I know that if I am watching a scene and someone has their boobs out, then that’s all I’m looking at — I can’t help it. I just don’t think that will ever be right for me.”

There are ways around those scenes that leave everyone feeling comfortable. For example, Anna Kendrick, who does not do nudity on-camera, used a body double when her character appeared naked in Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates.

Keep reading for more actors’ quotes on doing nude scenes.

Celebrities’ Quotes on Doing Nude Scenes:

Samira Wiley

“It was my first sex scene and my first nude scene that I’d done,” the actress recalled about filming Orange Is the New Black in 2014. “I think I was worried about what my parents were going to think and all that kind of thing. Me and my scene partner, we just had a great time, and it wasn’t difficult. It definitely wasn’t sexy. It felt very mechanical.”

Scarlett Johansson

“I think in some ways you have to sort of look at the nudity, and you assume it’s going to be like a screenshot for someone,” ScarJo, who did her first nude scene in 2013’s Under the Skin, said. “So you kind of have to weigh the value of the risk that you’re taking. Is this gratuitous? Is this a vanity project?”

Leonardo DiCaprio

“It was all me, pal,” the actor said of getting naked as Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street. “All the flopping around, all the everything was all me. When you take on a character like this and you want to accurately reflect the nature of who these people are, you just gotta do it. You can’t think about yourself, because it’s not me — it’s a depiction of somebody else.”

Amanda Seyfried

“Being 19, walking around without my underwear on — like, are you kidding me? How did I let that happen?” Amanda said about feeling uncomfortable with nudity on an unnamed movie set. “Oh, I know why: I was 19 and I didn’t want to upset anybody, and I wanted to keep my job. That’s why.” 

Halle Berry 

Halle bared it all for the first time in 2001’s Swordfish because she felt her star status was secure. 

“So much of my life I was afraid to [do a nude scene],” she said. “With the success of my Dorothy Dandridge project and the critical acclaim that brought me, I finally felt that I didn’t have to prove myself anymore.” 

Cameron Diaz

“People have seen my butt. I’ve shown the top of my butt, the bottom of my butt. I’m not opposed to doing nudity, as long as it’s part of the story,” the actress said. “I’ll do whatever has to get done if it’s the right thing.”

Mischa Barton

“I don’t mind nudity as long as it’s necessary to the story,” Mischa explained. “I mean it’s a bit weird because you’re like naked in a room full of strangers, but we started telling really sick jokes which helped.” 

Jason Segel

“I tell you, you get your penis out once, and everyone expects it in the rest of your movies,” the actor, who appeared completely naked in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, half-jokingly said. 

Emilia Clarke

“In drama, if a nude scene forwards a story or is shot in a way that adds insight into characters, I’m perfectly fine with it,” Emilia told her Instagram followers. “Sometimes explicit scenes are required and make sense for the characters/story, as they do in Westeros. If it’s gratuitous for gratuitous sake, then I will discuss with a director on how to make it more subtle. In either case, like a good Mother of Dragons, I’m always in control.” 

Angelina Jolie

“I got a little shy. I was really surprised that I felt that exposed,” Angie said about her nude scene in 2007’s Beowulf at a press conference in November 2007.

Kate Winslet

“I look like the people that walk down the street. I don’t have perfect boobs, I don’t have zero cellulite — of course, I don’t — and I’m curvy. If that is something that makes women feel empowered in any way, that’s great,” the actress said. “On a deeper, subconscious level, it’s one of the reasons why I’ve allowed my stupid self to be so naked on screen. It’s partly because I do believe that it’s right for the character and it’s right for the story but it’s also knowing that not many people do that, actually — and not just that, but I’m a normal person.” 

Mary-Louise Parker 

“I didn’t think I needed to be naked,” she said of taking her clothes off for Weeds. “I fought with the director about it, and now I am bitter. I knew it was going to be on the internet: ‘Mary-Louise shows off her big nipples.’ I wish I hadn’t done that. I was goaded into it.”

Gordon Ramsay

“I do regret one thing — getting my ass out in the shower,” the chef said of filming a naked shower scene for his series Hotel Hell. “Because of the sort of secret footage, I had to take a shower like you do in the morning. I know. I’m sorry.”