“That was my first day as a guest on this new show, and I just didn’t feel comfortable standing there naked.”
Minka Kelly has opened up about a nude scene in “Euphoria” she didn’t feel comfortable shooting.
During an interview with Vanity Fair, the 41-year-old actress got candid about her first day on set with writer and director Sam Levinson who was open to Kelly’s requests to make a few tweaks about her character and an intended nude scene.
The actress portrays Samantha, the wealthy mother of a little boy who Maddy, Alexa Demie’s character, babysits in the second season of the Emmy Award winning series. The particular scene in question features Kelly’s character coming home from a date with her husband who asks Maddy to help her unzip her dress.
Despite the discomfiting sensual edge that drives the scene, the “Euphoria” actress revealed that the scene was originally scripted to be more x-rated.
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“[Levinson] thought it would be more interesting if my dress fell to the ground,” Kelly stated. “That was my first day as a guest on this new show, and I just didn’t feel comfortable standing there naked.”
Minka added that Levinson was immediately onboard with her decision to keep her clothes, “I said, ‘I’d love to do this scene, but I think we can keep my dress on.’ He was like, ‘Okay!’ He didn’t even hesitate. And he shot a beautiful scene and got exactly what he wanted,” she recalled.
Her experiences on-set the HBO series echo the same sentiments as Sydney Sweeney who opened up in an interview with The Independent about the collaborative set and how she’s able to have an open dialogue with Levinson when it comes to nudity.
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“There are moments where Cassie was supposed to be shirtless and I would tell Sam, ‘I don’t really think that’s necessary here,'” she said. “He was like, ‘OK, we don’t need it.'”
She added that Levinson was always open to her requests involving nudity, which made her feel safe while filming the intimate scenes. “I’ve never felt like Sam has pushed it on me or was trying to get a nude scene into an HBO show,” Sweeney explained. “When I didn’t want to do it, he didn’t make me.”
Although the actress noted “Euphoria” has an intimacy coordinator on set who helps advocate for actors when filming racy rated scenes, not all of her experiences with on-screen nudity have been pleasant throughout her career.
“I’ve had experiences where I want to go home and scrub myself completely raw because I feel disgusting,” she confessed. “I didn’t feel comfortable with my castmate or the crew, and I just didn’t feel like my character would be doing it.”
