Game of Thrones is a show known for sex and violence, but this week one of its leads, Emilia Clarke, stated she feels that most of the time sex scenes on TV are over-the-top and unnecessary. In fact, if the actress had her way, sex scenes on shows like Game of Thrones wouldn’t be nearly as blatant as we are used to—especially on subscription cable channels like HBO. Speaking at a recent party, the actress says she would love to see “subtler” nudity on shows like her own:
Most sex scenes you see in films or on TV are gratuitous and they’re usually just to attract an audience. On screen, the subtler the better.
While most fans of the show have actually seen Clarke get naked on HBO’s prized property, she hasn’t done so during recent seasons. Presumably, the actress became so popular that she was able to use her dislike for nudity as a bargaining chip to no longer take her clothes off. In fact, we have heard that a couple of years ago the actress went to producers Dan Weiss and David Benioff and told them she no longer wanted to do nude scenes on Game of Thrones. So, while we’ve seen other people’s bodies in the time since, the Khaleesi has stayed full robed.
The actress told The Daily Mail she feels that subtlety is the key to success with nudity on the small screen.
I don’t want to have sex thrown in my face and I’ve always thought the suggestion is so much more titillating than the act itself.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be a feeling that most of the people involved with Game of Thrones and the fans share. Season 5 featured multiple scenes shot in brothels and also featured nudity from numerous characters on the show, although Daenerys Targaryen was not among them. She’s not the only one. For Cersei’s famous nude scene, actress Lena Headey opted to use a body double while Game of Thrones was filming, despite the fact the actress has been naked in other movies before.
It’s gotten harder and harder for TV and film projects to find random actresses willing to bare all on screen. Because of this, it has become more common now for shows like True Detective and even Game of Thrones to hire porn stars to pop up on set and take on background roles or small roles that require a lot of nudity. It was only a few months ago that Samantha Bentley spoke out about showing off her goods on the HBO show, so expect more porn stars on TV in the future.
Obviously, Emilia Clarke’s personal feelings about nudity on the TV haven’t changed the outlook of Game of Thrones, but they have allowed her to take a step back and bare less, which is probably the important thing for her, anyway.
It’ll still be a while before Game of Thrones returns to the schedule in all of its nude glory. For now, check out what we know about the upcoming sixth season.
