Nudity on screen is often a big deal. Being willing to put your body out there with literally no protection is a decision that few actors take lightly. Not only do you have to be willing to do it in front of a crew of people while making the film, but you also do it knowing that it will be seen by perhaps millions of people. It's sort of amazing anybody takes their clothes off on screen. But both Sebastian Stan and his co-star Denise Gough do exactly that for their new relationship drama Monday. And the Falcon and the Winter Soldier star recently explained his feelings about baring it all.
And while nudity on screen is always a big deal, it's certainly not uncommon for actresses. For actors, however, it is somewhat unusual to even be asked to be nude on screen. But it doesn't appear that Sebastian Stan had any real problem with the idea in Monday. The actor tells The Wrap that, because the film is trying so hard to tell an honest story about a relationship, that it made sense for him to disrobe. According to Stan,
If it was truthful and made sense, then OK. Obviously trust was a big thing here. I knew we were trying to tell such an honest depiction of a relationship that we were going to be open to whatever that meant, as long as it remained truthful and made sense.
Monday contains several intimate scenes between Sebastian Stan and Denise Gough, including one scene where the pair ride a moped naked through the Grecian countryside. Both actors certainly made themselves quite vulnerable with a scene like that, and Denise Gough credits Sebastian Stan's willingness to do the same for making it easier for her to be able to do it all as well.
Sebastian Stan says one of the big reasons he was willing to do this was that he had seen the previous film from Monday director Argyris Papadimitropoulos, Suntan. Stan saw in that movie evidence that the director could be trusted, and so he was willing to do what was asked of him. As a result, while there is a lot of nudity and sex on screen in Monday, it seems neither actor feels like they were objectified. They were simply telling a story of two people in a relationship and all the things that come with that territory.
We've heard far too many stories from actors, mostly women, who have found themselves in situations on a film set where they did not feel safe. Hollywood has increased the practice of bringing in intimacy coordinators to help with the production of these sorts of scenes so that the production can get the shots it wants while the performers are still treated with the proper respect. Although not everybody is in favor of the practice.
