The 'Class Act' finds sex scenes 'intolerable' and exploitative and explains why such 'ghastly stuff' should not be allowed in the movie-making industry.
- Jun 24, 2023
AceShowbiz - Joanna Lumley feels sex scenes are "revolting." The 77-year-old actress has always detested shooting sex scenes, likening them to making "soft porn" and Joanna would actually like them to be cut altogether.
"Oh, everybody stripped. Everybody had to, from Diana Rigg to Julie Christie, we all had to take at least our tops off in something. It was standard and it was this, 'You're not a real actress unless you take your top off,' " she told the Guardian newspaper while reflecting on her early years in the film and TV business.
"Nobody liked it, like nobody likes intimate kissing or sex scenes. All this ghastly stuff we have to pretend to do. Everybody knows it's pretending and it's kind of soft porn, and now we've got coaches to teach us how to do it. Thank God I'm beyond it now."
Joanna thinks intimacy coaches are "probably a nice thing." However, the "Absolutely Fabulous" star still believes that sex scenes should be scrapped altogether. The veteran actress said, "I find them intolerable! I think they're revolting, I don't know why people write them and I don't know why we watch them. We wouldn't have films of people sitting on the loo. There are some things which are private."
Asked if she felt there was an exploitative element to her topless scenes, Joanna replied, "Oh, it always is. But there are lots of other things you have to do in life which are horrible, and you never wanted to do them, and you find yourself caught up with them."
"Also remember, the world ... we [had been] four girls sharing a flat but we weren't allowed to sign the lease - a man had to. Men were always paid more, always top dog, and you could be sacked from a film if you didn't take your top off. So then a lot of people go, 'Shall I just take my top off and remain in the film?' It was a different world."
