8 Actors Who Refused On-Screen Intimacy

Even though it may seem that working in Hollywood is a dream job, sometimes actors and actresses face issues we never face, and one of those is shooting intimate scenes. And while some celebrities go for it even through discomfort, we made a list of our favorite stars who refused to get intimate on-screen for one reason or another.

1. Blake Lively

Blake Lively is one of those actresses who will never appear in an explicit scene on screen, mostly because she doesn’t like the way it looks and thinks these scenes are unnecessary for the film. “When I see it in movies, I am always distracted by it,” she said. “I just don’t think that will ever be right for me.”

2. Sarah Jessica Parker

Paradoxically, the lead actress of the already iconic Sex and the City, Sarah Jessica Parker, is strongly against the candid scenes in the franchise. Working on the show, the absence of explicit scenes was even prescribed in her contract.

“I don’t have any judgment about anyone who chooses to do it,” she said. “I think it’s fantastic that people feel comfortable doing it.” However, Parker herself has a “principal position” regarding such scenes and would never act in one.

3. Megan Fox

Megan Fox decided to never act in R-rated movies again and even refused several promising roles. As a mother of sons, Fox is worried about how her children might see her on-screen. “There are just certain things boys should never see their mothers do,” she said.

She has faced different talented directors and propositions to work but recalls that “the things the women are required to do in the movie are things I can’t have my sons ever know or see.”

4. Penn Badgley

Penn Badgley, the lead actor in the Netflix show, You, had one request for season 4 of the show: to have fewer intimate scenes. There were 2 reasons behind this decision.

First of all, he didn’t want his career to be stuck with the role of the “romantic lead.” But most importantly, he was driven by respect for his marriage. “Fidelity in every relationship — and especially my marriage — is important to me, and it just got to a point where I didn’t wanna do that,” the actor shared.

5. Keira Knightley

After becoming a mother, Keira Knightley has decided to stop shooting explicit scenes, specifically with male directors. “I don’t have an absolute ban, but I kind of do with men,” she said.

She made the decision because she didn’t want to portray the “male gaze” anymore. Knightley said she can see when the intimacy on-screen is unnecessary and the filmmakers “just need somebody to look hot.” So she refuses to participate in films like these.

6. Rebel Wilson

Another actress who has strict rules regarding R-rated scenes in her films is Rebel Wilson. She has a clause in her contracts that requests the absence of candid scenes. Working on her film, Grimsby, they even got her a stand-in who acted in these scenes instead of Wilson.

“They got in another girl to be a double. And they got her to do all this stuff,” shared Wilson. And after seeing the scene, she said, “I’m not doing it. I don’t care what you say.”

7. Mahershala Ali

Mahershala Ali almost rejected the role in David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button because of the R-rated scene he had to act in. Ali doesn’t want to work in such scenes for personal reasons, and it almost cost him a role in this iconic movie.

However, Fincher made a concession and altered the scene, so Ali would feel more comfortable working. He and his scene partner “begin to kiss, and then we fall out of the frame,” Ali commented on the final decision.

8. Julia Roberts

After becoming a mother, Julia Roberts became very particular about what she performed on screen. She might still consider acting in some intimate scenes, but if it seems too explicit, she will require the scene to be toned down. “You know it’s not really what I do, so if you are going to ask me to do it, you have to expect it to be toned down,” she shared. “You know, as a mom of 3, I feel like that.”