Soap Star Turned Down Role Because She Refused to Go Topless
By Jessilyn Lancaster, Managing Editor
Soap star Melody Thomas Scott of THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS recently revealed that she turned down a role in the raunchy movie ANIMAL HOUSE because she would have had to go topless.
“It was a funny thing. Back then, it was quite common to go on a series of interviews for a part and be told that you received the part, that you won the role without ever reading the script. And it was that situation. So when I finally did get the script, I already got the job… All my scenes [in the script] are topless. And I just was not interested in that, even though I was very young. I was, I don’t know, 20. [But] it just was not something that I was comfortable with,” Thomas Scott told Fox News.
Her actions were not without consequences.
“[The director’s] final words to my agent [were], ‘I will never give her a part in any of my movies. I will never even meet with her.’ It was like, golly, OK. I guess you could call it the one that got away. Who knew it would be such a big hit? But with certain things, even as an actress, you have to put your foot down if you’re not comfortable with it,” Thomas Scott said.
Thomas Scott is far from the only celebrity who is uncomfortable with the oversexualization presented in much of today’s entertainment.
Actress Emily Blunt, who was nominated for Movieguide®’s Grace Prize® for her role in THE QUIET PLACE said she doesn’t want to do nude scenes anymore and asks herself: “Does it serve the film or is it gratuitous and seeing someone’s tits for the sake of it? Because I don’t think it’s necessary most of the time.”
Actress Reese Witherspoon said, “If [actresses] take their clothes off, they objectify themselves … I am flabbergasted by how many legitimate actresses do it.”
And Jennifer Garner of the Movieguide® Award-nominated movie MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN said, “I will not be taking it all off! No thank you. The world deserves better. Not interested.”
Other starlets who have done nude scenes say they had to turn to unhealthy measures to cope with their anxieties and now regret the immodesty.
“I got really, really drunk,” Jennifer Lawrence said of her scene in PASSENGERS. “But then that led to more anxiety when I got home because I was like, ‘What have I done? I don’t know.”
WEEDS actress Mary Louise Parker said, “I didn’t think I needed to be naked, and I fought with the director about it, and now I’m bitter. … I wish I hadn’t done that. I was goaded into it.”
Despite the pressure from directors and producers, these actresses’s gut intuitions prove how damaging the world’s sexual appetite can be. Furthermore, sex doesn’t actually sell.
Movieguide®’s decades of research for the Annual Report to the Entertainment Industry proves that movies that include faith and family values far outperform their gratuitous counterparts in the box office. In fact, more sexual content actually hurts box office earnings.
Stars like THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS’s Thomas Scott know they can stand up for their values and not resort to cheap, hollow thrills like ANIMAL HOUSE.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
