10 Celebrities Who Have Spoken Out Against Sex Scenes

Audiences aren’t the only ones who are tired of graphic sex scenes and nudity – many celebrities are now speaking out against the culture of nudity in the movies. Whether by speaking out against the need for graphic nudity in movies in interviews or by including “no nudity clauses” in their contracts, here are just a few of the celebrities who are pushing back against the promiscuity and soft porn that studios want to produce. 

Henry Cavill

Superman has spoken – sex scenes are uncouth. In a recent interview to promote his film Argylle, Cavill agreed with his director Matthew Vaughn that sex scenes were uncomfortable to film. "It’s like, ‘take your clothes off, get in bed.’ Is that acting? I suppose it is,” Cavill added, "There are actually circumstances where a sex scene is beneficial to a movie, but I think sometimes they’re just overused these days. I think it’s when you get that sense of, is this really necessary, or is it just people with less clothing on?" Later adding that he’s “not a fan” of sex scenes, Cavill has made it clear that profuse nudity isn’t going to be on the table for him any time soon.

Victoria Justice

Cavill isn't the only one who finds sex scenes uncomfortable. Victorious star Victoria Justice had to shoot a sex scene on her first day on the set of Depravity, and she wasn’t happy about it. “I think sometimes people think filming sex scenes or anything like an intimate scene that it’s really sexy…it’s really not,” Justice explained. “It’s uncomfortable, honestly, and there’s a bunch of random dudes in the room breathing and watching you.” Though Justice felt her director helped her pull off the scene with “taste,” she was left wondering, “‘Did I make the wrong choice? I don’t know if I should do this.”

Minka Kelly

Euphoria, like many other HBO shows, is well known for its near-pornographic nudity. But when Minka Kelly guest starred on Euphoria and was supposed to remove her dress in a scene, she felt that it was unnecessary. “That was my first day as a guest on this new show, and I just didn’t feel comfortable standing there naked," Kelly told Vanity Fair, and she suggested leaving the shot at an unzipped zipper. “I said, ‘I’d love to do this scene, but I think we can keep my dress on.’” 

Neil McDonough

There’s a reason McDonough is often cast as the movie villain, and he thinks it has something to do with his stance on sex scenes. “Sex scenes aren’t in it for me. And I think, gosh, there’s enough sex scenes out there and me being in my fifties, I’m not sure if anyone wants to see me doing that stuff anyway, but it’s a comfort level. I’m not very comfortable doing that.” Not only does McDonough turn down sex scenes, which has lost him roles in Hollywood, he refuses to kiss any woman other than his wife. 

Julia Roberts

Julia Robert may seem like she’s done it all over the course of her 35 year, Oscar-winning acting career – but excessive nudity isn’t one of them. "You know, not criticizing others' choices, but for me to not take off my clothes in a movie or be vulnerable in physical ways is a choice that I guess I make for myself," Roberts said recently in an interview. Previous productions have body doubles due to Roberts’ rule about nudity, and many scenes in her films have been adjusted to meet her standards. In 2009, she reportedly had an explicit sex scene in Duplicity changed, saying, "It's not really what I do, so if you're going to ask me to do it, you have to expect it to be toned down. You know, as a mum of three, I feel like that." 

Penn Badgley

When Badgley married Domino Kirke in 2017, he started to feel differently about the content in his hit Netflix show You. During production on Season 4 of the show, Badgley approached Sera Gamble (the show’s producer) and asked if they could do without sex scenes in the new season. “I asked Sera Gamble, [the] creator, 'Can I just do no more intimacy scenes?',” Badgley explained on a podcast interview. "Fidelity in every relationship – especially in a marriage – is important to me. It got to a point where [I thought], 'I don't want to do that.'”

Sarah Jessica Parker

She might be the star of Sex in the City, but in real life, Sarah Jessica Parker has been fighting against nudity in her career for a long time. Parker has always had a ”no nudity” clause in her contract, but not everyone has wanted to respect her wishes. On one production, Parker recalled being pressured to the point of tears to strip naked for the camera. “They were like, ‘Sarah Jessica’s going to be nude tomorrow,’ and I was like, ‘I’m not going to be nude.’” Parker is grateful for the support she’s received from people like her agent despite Hollywood’s pressure to get explicit, saying, “My agent sent a car and a plane ticket [to the film set] and he said, ‘If anybody makes you do anything that you’re not comfortable doing, you don’t.’”

Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba has had her share of bad experiences filming sex scenes, and she’s not glamourising it. "It's disgusting most of the time because they're usually a stranger," Alba told an interviewer in 2019 about filming sex scenes. She continued, “When you're choosing to want to be with someone in that way, it's very intimate, like, you're breathing on someone.” Alba has also included a “no nudity” clause in her contract, stating, “I don't want my grandparents to see my boobs. That's it. And, I mean, really, if you look at the movies I have done, getting naked would never 'elevate' the picture.”

John David Washington

While filming Malcolm & Marie with Zendaya, actor John David Washington had a terrible time filming sex scenes and made no secret of expressing his feelings. “Kissing scenes, huge challenges for me,” the actor told Rolling Stone, “Love scenes? I hate them. I hate 'em, I hate 'em, I hate 'em. They make me so uncomfortable. Maybe just kissing in public. There's a gaffer, there's a cameraman, there's the video village over there. I don't know, it's an intimate moment. It's weird.”

Allison Williams

HBO’s Girls may have been full of rough content, including nudity, but the show’s star Allison Williams drew a line in the sand before filming began. Explaining why her character, Marnie, doesn’t have any nude scenes, Williams explained in an interview with ABC, “I just wanted to give Marnie almost all of myself. But there were things that felt like they should be mine and felt like they should always be mine.” Prior to signing a contract to play Marnie, Williams was pressured to sign a nudity waiver, which would require her to film nude scenes. But Williams refused: “I said, ‘Well, I’m not going to sign it.’ And my agents were like, ‘What?’ ‘Just tell them I’m not going to sign it.’”

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