The Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal has prompted an actors’ union to draw up new rules for sex scenes.
Equity is to consider new guidelines for simulated sex on screen and stage which could ban acts such as sharing saliva or using tongues during kisses.
The proposals, to be discussed next week, rule out nudity at auditions and screen tests, as well as suggest ‘best practice’ for steamy scenes.
The Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal has prompted the actors’ union Equity to draw up new rules for sex scenes (above Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct in 1992)
Tom Hiddleston famously exposed his bottom during a steamy sex scene with Elizabeth Debicki in TV series The Night Manager
Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio’s got very intimate during filming for the iconic 1997 film Titanic
Several actresses have said they were surprised by aggressive kisses using tongues while filming, and prominent male actors and directors have been accused of abusive behaviour.
The #MeToo campaign on social media saw scores of women come forward to make allegations of sexually inappropriate behaviour, abuse and rape.
Tonight stars will head to the British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Albert Hall.
Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Emma Thompson are among more than 190 leading women who have signed a letter calling for an end to sexual abuse.
Dame Helen Mirren has said one of her steamy performances was ‘like filming a scene doing the washing up’.
But others have had much more traumatic experiences on set.
Last Tango in Paris star Maria Schneider said she was not told that her co-star Marlon Brando was going to use butter as a lubricant during a scene.
Bernardo Bertolucci, who directed the iconic film, said he had wanted her reaction ‘as a girl, not as an actress’.
Schneider, who was 19 at the time, said she had felt humiliated and ‘a little raped’.
Last Tango in Paris star Maria Schneider said she was not told that her co-star Marlon Brando was going to use butter as a lubricant during a scene (pictured together on set in 1972)
Schneider (pictured), who was 19 at the time, said she had felt humiliated and ‘a little raped’
So-called ‘modesty’ coverings used for sex scenes have long been unreliable.
Actors have reported them being flimsy and prone to falling off.
Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan said ‘tucking away your essentials in a little flesh-coloured bag’ was a peculiar experience.
Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan (pictured with co-star Dakota Johnson) says using ‘modesty’ coverings was a peculiar experience
Suranne Jones and Bertie Carvel shared dramatic on-screen sex scenes in TV series Doctor Foster
Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland’s sex scene in 1973 horror film Don’t Look Now was infamous