Expected of whom? From what it seems all of the actors/actresses were offered a double, and some didn’t accept them. This actress was pregnant during the walk of shame filming, so both the directors and her wanted a body double. (I wanted to be mad at the directors/studio… But couldn’t find anything about an actress saying they weren’t offered a double)
Emilia Clarke has revealed she felt uncomfortable acting in some of her nude scenes in Game Of Thrones.
. . .
Clarke, who was 23 when she started filming Game Of Thrones, said she would be in tears before shooting certain “terrifying” nude scenes.
. . .
“I’ve never been on a film set like this before. I’d been on a film set twice before then, and I’m now on a film set completely naked with all of these people, and I don’t know what I’m meant to do, and I don’t know what’s expected of me, and I don’t know what you want, and I don’t know what I want.
“Regardless of there being nudity or not, I would have spent that first season thinking I’m not worthy of requiring anything. I’m not worthy of needing anything at all.”
She later demanded fewer nude scenes. It probably would’ve gone a lot differently with an intimacy coordinator advocating for her on set.
So she was offered a body double for nude scenes (before any nude scenes was filmed in season 1), turned it down without understanding how many scenes she would film. Yeah an intamacy coordinator probably would have been best for all nude scenes on the show. But I wouldnt say she wasn’t offered a double, it sounds like she wishes once she realized how many scenes were being shot nude she said get a double sooner. As she went on to later to do nude scenes in the series because she wanted more control over the character during those scenes.
That said, taking the role of a young woman in an incestuous family who you know gets raped in the first season and aspires to work her way to the thrown currently held by an incestuous brother/sister fucking family… The pressures had to by high as a young actress to not say I don’t want to be remembered for performing those sex scenes.
But being offered a body double doesn’t mean there wasn’t expectation or pressure. It’s being presented a script and being told ‘This is the scene. Do you want to do the work or do you want someone else to do it?’ Her portrayal of the character is not just her face and voice. It’s how she embodies the character, including her movement. It’s understandable to not want important parts of that portrayal performed by someone else. There’s also immense pressure on young actors, especially women, to not be a source of friction on set. People who get a reputation for being “difficult” struggle to find work.
I don’t think this is necessarily the fault of studios or directors. Pressure isn’t just using power to compel behaviour. I’m sure most of the people she worked with would have been horrified to find out she felt that way. It just takes more than having nice people on set to overcome that power imbalance. The situation could have been writers and directors thinking that she’d say something if she felt uncomfortable and her feeling like it’s not appropriate for her to say something. Even assuming best intentions from everyone, it was still a shitty outcome for her. An important part of an intimacy coordinator’s job is to be friction on set to take the burden off those performers. And instead of it being a question of whether she or someone else will do the work, the question becomes, “how can we construct this scene so our performers feel safe and comfortable?”
I never thought the scenes with Emilia Clarke fully naked were needed. They didn’t add anything to the story. Any intent could have been done in a different way, I’m glad tv shows are gwtting past the age of adding the obligatory sex scene where 9/10 times it’s a young female who is on display.
I will note GOT was somewhat different in that some men were also fully naked, but that was for more violent effect (Alfie Allen) or mockery (hodor). Not saying that’s a good reason either. Curious if they felt pressure to do it? Also curious if the fans have made comments about those appearances.
Expected of whom? From what it seems all of the actors/actresses were offered a double, and some didn’t accept them. This actress was pregnant during the walk of shame filming, so both the directors and her wanted a body double. (I wanted to be mad at the directors/studio… But couldn’t find anything about an actress saying they weren’t offered a double)
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/nov/20/emilia-clarke-game-of-thrones-nude-scenes-were-terrifying
. . .
. . .
She later demanded fewer nude scenes. It probably would’ve gone a lot differently with an intimacy coordinator advocating for her on set.
So she was offered a body double for nude scenes (before any nude scenes was filmed in season 1), turned it down without understanding how many scenes she would film. Yeah an intamacy coordinator probably would have been best for all nude scenes on the show. But I wouldnt say she wasn’t offered a double, it sounds like she wishes once she realized how many scenes were being shot nude she said get a double sooner. As she went on to later to do nude scenes in the series because she wanted more control over the character during those scenes.
That said, taking the role of a young woman in an incestuous family who you know gets raped in the first season and aspires to work her way to the thrown currently held by an incestuous brother/sister fucking family… The pressures had to by high as a young actress to not say I don’t want to be remembered for performing those sex scenes.
But being offered a body double doesn’t mean there wasn’t expectation or pressure. It’s being presented a script and being told ‘This is the scene. Do you want to do the work or do you want someone else to do it?’ Her portrayal of the character is not just her face and voice. It’s how she embodies the character, including her movement. It’s understandable to not want important parts of that portrayal performed by someone else. There’s also immense pressure on young actors, especially women, to not be a source of friction on set. People who get a reputation for being “difficult” struggle to find work.
I don’t think this is necessarily the fault of studios or directors. Pressure isn’t just using power to compel behaviour. I’m sure most of the people she worked with would have been horrified to find out she felt that way. It just takes more than having nice people on set to overcome that power imbalance. The situation could have been writers and directors thinking that she’d say something if she felt uncomfortable and her feeling like it’s not appropriate for her to say something. Even assuming best intentions from everyone, it was still a shitty outcome for her. An important part of an intimacy coordinator’s job is to be friction on set to take the burden off those performers. And instead of it being a question of whether she or someone else will do the work, the question becomes, “how can we construct this scene so our performers feel safe and comfortable?”
I never thought the scenes with Emilia Clarke fully naked were needed. They didn’t add anything to the story. Any intent could have been done in a different way, I’m glad tv shows are gwtting past the age of adding the obligatory sex scene where 9/10 times it’s a young female who is on display.
I will note GOT was somewhat different in that some men were also fully naked, but that was for more violent effect (Alfie Allen) or mockery (hodor). Not saying that’s a good reason either. Curious if they felt pressure to do it? Also curious if the fans have made comments about those appearances.
I felt her walking out of fire with clothes burnt away looked awesome