by In 2007, the brave British TV show exteriors When the first season began, it swept both sides of the Atlantic.
The series quickly became notorious for its somber stories, graphic sex scenes, and portrayal of teenagers who were actually portrayed by drug- and alcohol-hungry teenagers.
The show aired until 2013 and introduced a new cast every two seasons, making it a sort of revolving door for young acting prospects looking for their big break.
And most of the cast understood exactly that, exteriors to be one of the first TV gigs for the many established stars we know and love today.
Academy Award winner Daniel Kaluuya, nominated Dev Patel and game of Thrones Hannah Murray and Joe Dempsie are just a few of the British actors who cut their teeth on the E4 series.
But in 2021, eight years after the final season aired, some of the cast began to lift the lid on their “lousy” shooting experiences.
April Pearson, who played Michelle in seasons 1 and 2 exteriors Talked to fellow graduate Laya Lewis on her podcast Are you Michelle from Skins? last year.
Laya played Liv in seasons 5 and 6, and although the two women didn’t work on the show at the same time, they weren’t surprised to learn that they had incredibly similar experiences, especially when it comes to the show’s standout sex scenes.
Both Laya and April admitted that they felt uncomfortable and unprotected during filming and said they believed they were “too young” to undress on TV.
In their early days on set, they were amateur young actors, but were expected to shoot intimate scenes immediately and with little guidance.
Laya said on the podcast: “If you want to get the kids off the street, which is actually what they’ve been doing to keep this authentic screen thing going, a little more help is needed. Talk things through, it was a little too much to blow up, day one, here you are. “
“There’s a difference between being officially old enough and being mentally old enough,” April agreed. I was having this conversation with my husband and I was like, ‘I feel so young, I feel unprotected’.”
He also suggested that the experiences of both were universal to all predecessors. exteriors The stars and every actress he spoke to privately said he felt the same way.
“We’re talking about seven series of the same show and everyone feels the same, definitely the women and some of the men I’ve talked to feel the same,” April said as she pondered the fact that her and Laya intimacy coordinators didn’t. It was not yet implemented on TV and movie sets at that time. exteriors was on the air.
April also said she heard Paul Mescal say he felt “empowered” by the sex scenes. normal people it almost made her cry and she explained: “An interviewer asked me, ‘How do you feel during the sex scenes on the show? exteriors?’ Can I say empowered? Not possible.”
And in July, Kaya Scodelario joined the conversation that rose to fame in Season 1 as 14-year-old Effy. exteriors – a character with the rare success of appearing in more than two seasons.
In a TikTok video, Kaya acknowledged the constant comparisons between them. exteriors and Sam Levinson’s HBO drama euphoriaPremiering in 2020 and starring Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney and Alexa Demie.
euphoria He has similarly gritty stories about sex and drugs. But when the characters are young, the actors playing them are in their early to mid-20s, and they often talk about advocating the removal of some unnecessary nudity from the script from the show.
And this age difference is in stark contrast to Kaya’s experiences. exteriorsand reminded himself of this in his social media upload.
In the TikTok video, the now 30-year-old actor filmed himself in shock before relaxing and shrugging, as a voice-over said: euphoria I think for the first time This is crazy for 17 year oldsThen I remembered what I was doing on TV when I was 14.
Kaya said, “It will always be great. But yeah, protection wasn’t really a thing back then….and that’s what he said too exteriors caused his long-term “issues” in a follow-up comment.
A fan asked him, “Do you think being in Skins affected your mentality at that age?” and Kaya answered frankly: “Yes. It was a good time, but also the root cause of many of my current problems. Still, it gave me the opportunity to do what I love.”
Now, Kaya’s on-screen love has had a say, as Jack O’Connell admitted that his experience filming sex and nude scenes ended in 2015. exteriors “it wasn’t true.”
Jack played bad boy Cook in the series’ third and fourth seasons, and most of the sex scenes were with Kaya.
After lingering exteriorsJack continued to undress for his roles – even when he appeared completely naked on stage for the West End production. Cat on a hot tin roofand barbarism in the 2013 movie Starry.
Now 32, Jack can be seen co-starring with Emma Corrin in the Netflix adaptation of DH Lawrence’s 1928 novel. Lady Chatterley’s Loverand the two actors have many sensual sex scenes throughout the movie and also appear completely naked on screen many times.
“If it’s going to move the story forward, then this is it,” Jack said of the ethics of undressing in front of the camera in a recent interview with The Independent. “Words that have an impact, if they can’t be avoided, just deal with it.”
But his recent experience also encouraged Jack to reflect on his time. exteriorsShe admitted that she was “too naive” when she started the role at age 17.
In fact, Jack said he never questioned whether he was comfortable with what he was being asked to do as Cook and accepted sex and nudity as “part and inseparable” of being blindfolded. Show.
“It’s hard to say it’s completely comfortable [filming sex scenes],” She began. “Listen, I admit I was so naive at the time, enough not to check myself out and ask myself if I felt comfortable. I felt like I was part of the program in a very different time than we’re in now.”
Jack continued to add this even though he felt “too compromised”. exteriorsThe most important thing is that everyone learns from this so that problems don’t happen again.
“If you feel very put at risk and don’t feel protected in that environment, it can be very unnecessarily intimidating,” he explained. “I think the important thing is to have these discussions to make sure what’s going on. [on Skins] It seems that this was not true, it is being addressed and does not repeat itself.
In addition to the disturbing sex scenes, former cast members also revealed that they were pressured to appear a certain way and were even encouraged to skip meals while working on them. exteriors.
Before filming a swimsuit scene, Laya remembered the female actors queuing up in their bikinis so the male showrunner could confirm their bodies.
“There was a point at which we were told to skip breakfast and we should just have potatoes for dinner,” she said on last year’s podcast. “We had to go to Morocco for the first episode of Season 6 and had to stand alone in a room in a bikini or swimsuit with just us and the show’s creator.”
“He was a man and he was much older than us – we were between 16 and 18 years old – and we were told if we looked good enough to shoot in Morocco,” Laya added. “The costume told me to go first because I’m the most comfortable, to show the other girls it’s not that bad – but it was bad.”
“I thought it was terrible at the time,” he concluded. “But I think it’s much worse now.”
April replied: “You’re young then and you don’t know any better. You really don’t know what to say, what to talk about, that’s okay. … And as with many trauma victims, you look back and think: Yeah that sucked”
exteriors It was created by father and son Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain, and in response to the podcast episode, Bryan’s rep previously said in a statement: “We are deeply and openly sorry that any cast members feel uncomfortable with their work or do not feel adequately respected during their stay. exteriors. We are committed to continuously developing safe, reliable and enjoyable working conditions for all those working in the TV industry.”
