Hollywood’s elite often make headlines for choosing to bare it all on screen, but many of the world’s biggest actresses are actually in favor of being more covered up on screen.
Some cite personal reasons, while others are worried their family might catch a glimpse of something explicit. We take a look at some of those A-list women who will not go nude.
Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman says she would never want her children to find any explicit imagery of her online, which is why she will not strip down on screen. (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
During a recent appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show,” Natalie Portman revealed the one thing she would not do for a role.
“Show my boobs,” the “May December” actress said, laughing. “Is that really prude?”
“I’m just always like, I don’t want my kids to see pictures online,” she says of why she chooses to cover up.
Portman did have a nude scene in the Wes Anderson short film, “Hotel Chevalier,” back in 2007, although she has been outspoken about why she does not entirely love her decision to do so.
“The thing is – and maybe I’ve brought it on myself by talking about nudity so much – it’s still the thing that people talk about more than the short. And that’s the thing that makes me think maybe I shouldn’t have done it,” she told The Guardian. “It’s not that I regret the actual thing. But it really depresses me that what I think is a wonderful film, that I’m really happy with – and Wes put a lot of time and energy into planning shots and writing the script, it’s very minimal, very exact – and then at the end literally half of any article or review about it has been about the nudity.”
Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Garner said many years ago that she had no interest in going nude on camera. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
Often dubbed America’s Sweetheart, “Family Switch” star Jennifer Garner is not interested in doing nudity. While doing press with her “Invention of Lying” co-star Ricky Gervais in 2009, Garner was adamant that she has no interest in ever going nude. “I will not be taking it all off!,” Garner told MTV News.
“OK, well then, it’s equal,” Gervais told her. “It’s joint equal at, ‘No way! Absolutely no way!’”
“Zero percent,” Garner added. “No, thank you. The world deserves better. Not interested.”
Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker famously had a no-nudity clause in her “S.*.x and the City” contract. (Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)
Sarah Jessica Parker has played the iconic Carrie Bradshaw over the course of several decades in two television shows and movies, but always made it clear that she was not interested in having her character go nude. She even had a nudity-clause in her contract.
In a recent interview on “The Howard Stern Show,” Parker explained her one provision when she initially took on the role for “S.*.x And The City.”
“The only thing I said to [creator Darren Star] that I was concerned about was that I just didn’t feel comfortable doing nudity, and I suspected that if it wasn’t in the pilot, it would be part of a series,” she told Stern. “And he said, ‘Don’t do it then, I don’t care. Don’t do nudity.’ He said, ‘We’ll have other actors, if they feel comfortable doing it they’ll do it, but you do not have to.’”
“I think I was just shy,” she says of her decision to stay covered. “I think I just never felt comfortable exposing myself that way. I never had any judgments about anybody else doing it, it wasn’t like a morality thing or if somebody else felt comfortable doing it, I was admiring of them. But I just never felt comfortable being nude. I didn’t think it would change perception of me, or kind of like create opportunities that I might not be interested in.”
Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba says she would not want her grandparents to see her boobs on camera. (MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images)
In 2014, Jessica Alba gave a very clear reason for not wanting to go nude in films. “I don’t want my grandparents to see my boobs. That’s it. It would be weird at Christmas. And, I mean, really, if you look at the movies I have done, getting naked would never ‘elevate’ the picture,” she said to Glamour magazine.
Many years prior, she reportedly told Elle magazine anxiety contributed to her decision not to undress. “I don’t do nudity. I just don’t,” she told the outlet. “Maybe that makes me a bad actress. Maybe I won’t get hired in some things. But I have too much anxiety.”
Jessica Simpson
Before she was married to her husband, Jessica Simpson said she was reserving nudity for a future spouse. (amie McCarthy/Footwear News via Getty Images)
After Jessica Simpson split from husband Nick Lachey, she joked that the only nudity she would be comfortable doing would be in front of a future spouse. While speaking to Allure magazine in 2010, Simpson said “I will never do nudity.”
“I don’t care how dark and intellectual the role could be, you know? I don’t care if I frickin’ get an Oscar for it, I’m not going to do it. Those accolades mean nothing to me…. I don’t think people deserve to see what’s underneath my clothing. That’s only for my next husband – ha ha ha!”
