The China Mail - Emma Thompson confronts nudity and ageing in Sundance sex worker comedy

USD -
AED 3.67301
AFN 71.021929
ALL 86.757891
AMD 388.845938
ANG 1.80229
AOA 916.000148
ARS 1165.000022
AUD 1.559315
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.70406
BAM 1.718274
BBD 2.002838
BDT 121.45998
BGN 1.72222
BHD 0.376957
BIF 2973.111879
BMD 1
BND 1.309923
BOB 6.907155
BRL 5.619799
BSD 0.999627
BTN 85.145488
BWP 13.647565
BYN 3.271381
BYR 19600
BZD 2.008021
CAD 1.382775
CDF 2877.999765
CHF 0.824198
CLF 0.024644
CLP 945.690142
CNY 7.269496
CNH 7.2656
COP 4197
CRC 505.357119
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 96.873243
CZK 21.90485
DJF 178.012449
DKK 6.56135
DOP 58.908545
DZD 132.288977
EGP 50.801298
ERN 15
ETB 133.81045
EUR 0.87892
FJD 2.256403
FKP 0.746656
GBP 0.74686
GEL 2.745039
GGP 0.746656
GHS 14.294876
GIP 0.746656
GMD 71.492633
GNF 8658.065706
GTQ 7.698728
GYD 209.76244
HKD 7.75695
HNL 25.941268
HRK 6.620396
HTG 130.799
HUF 355.319478
IDR 16646.9
ILS 3.62904
IMP 0.746656
INR 85.090398
IQD 1309.571398
IRR 42100.000211
ISK 128.410025
JEP 0.746656
JMD 158.35182
JOD 0.7092
JPY 142.663004
KES 129.349896
KGS 87.450261
KHR 4001.774662
KMF 432.250121
KPW 900.101764
KRW 1422.724972
KWD 0.30632
KYD 0.833044
KZT 511.344318
LAK 21622.072771
LBP 89567.707899
LKR 299.446072
LRD 199.931473
LSL 18.549157
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 5.468994
MAD 9.272737
MDL 17.203829
MGA 4511.41031
MKD 54.061297
MMK 2099.785163
MNT 3572.381038
MOP 7.98763
MRU 39.575655
MUR 45.229907
MVR 15.400483
MWK 1733.40069
MXN 19.553103
MYR 4.310956
MZN 64.01011
NAD 18.549157
NGN 1601.519845
NIO 36.785022
NOK 10.359235
NPR 136.237321
NZD 1.68312
OMR 0.384995
PAB 0.999613
PEN 3.664973
PGK 4.141482
PHP 55.858498
PKR 280.826287
PLN 3.75155
PYG 8005.376746
QAR 3.644223
RON 4.374502
RSD 102.966435
RUB 82.000422
RWF 1428.979332
SAR 3.751033
SBD 8.361298
SCR 14.651979
SDG 600.501985
SEK 9.643735
SGD 1.305825
SHP 0.785843
SLE 22.75021
SLL 20969.483762
SOS 571.328164
SRD 36.849418
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.746876
SYP 13001.961096
SZL 18.542907
THB 33.321501
TJS 10.555936
TMT 3.51
TND 2.990231
TOP 2.342102
TRY 38.501202
TTD 6.782431
TWD 31.975997
TZS 2685.000535
UAH 41.530014
UGX 3663.550745
UYU 42.090559
UZS 12943.724275
VES 86.54811
VND 26005
VUV 121.306988
WST 2.770092
XAF 576.298184
XAG 0.030422
XAU 0.000302
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.71673
XOF 576.29312
XPF 104.776254
YER 245.050187
ZAR 18.54398
ZMK 9001.200989
ZMW 27.965227
ZWL 321.999592
  • JRI

    0.1300

    12.93

    +1.01%

  • CMSC

    -0.0800

    22.24

    -0.36%

  • NGG

    0.1900

    73.04

    +0.26%

  • CMSD

    -0.1300

    22.35

    -0.58%

  • SCS

    0.1500

    10.01

    +1.5%

  • BCC

    -0.8300

    94.5

    -0.88%

  • BCE

    0.1100

    21.92

    +0.5%

  • RIO

    0.0100

    60.88

    +0.02%

  • GSK

    0.9100

    38.97

    +2.34%

  • RBGPF

    -0.4500

    63

    -0.71%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1300

    10.12

    -1.28%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.58

    +0.1%

  • BP

    -1.0600

    28.07

    -3.78%

  • BTI

    0.4700

    42.86

    +1.1%

  • RELX

    0.4300

    53.79

    +0.8%

  • AZN

    1.7800

    71.71

    +2.48%

Emma Thompson confronts nudity and ageing in Sundance sex worker comedy
Emma Thompson confronts nudity and ageing in Sundance sex worker comedy

Emma Thompson confronts nudity and ageing in Sundance sex worker comedy

Emma Thompson's naked scene in her new film about an older woman hiring a sex worker was "probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do," she told the Sundance film festival Saturday.

Text size:

The Oscar-winning actress, 62, stars in "Good Luck To You, Leo Grande" as a repressed former schoolteacher who pays a handsome male escort for the sexual adventures she regrets having shunned as a younger woman.

The heartfelt comedy set almost entirely in a hotel room addresses the ethics of sex work and taboos surrounding motherhood and ageing -- and sees Thompson tackle several intimate and nude scenes.

The actors and director rehearsed "entirely nude" and played games that involved discussing their bodies on the scaled-down set in order to build trust.

Still, "it's very challenging to be nude at 62," said Thompson.

"I don't think I could've done it before the age that I am," she told an online panel.

"And yet, of course the age that I am makes it extremely challenging because we aren't used to seeing untreated bodies on the screen."

In addition to sexual scenes with Daryl McCormack, 29, Thompson's character disrobes before a mirror and looks at her body "in a completely relaxed, un-judgmental way."

"I have never done that... She doesn't alter herself, lift herself up, suck her stomach in, turn around or try to alter what she sees," said Thompson.

Despite trusting the filmmakers, Thompson said she "still found it fantastically hard to do."

"Probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do really -- and that's interesting in itself."

"That tells the whole story of my life as a woman surrounded by impossible demands and images of bodies," she said.

"That's the great tragedy of the female body in the 20th and 21st centuries. And it's a narrative that we absolutely have to change."

Earlier Saturday at Sundance, new docuseries "We Need to Talk About Cosby" premiered.

It focusses on the gulf between Bill Cosby's decades-long status as "America's dad" and long-simmering allegations of serial sexual assault.

Cosby was found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman, but his conviction was overturned on a technicality last year and he is currently free.

The series, described by The Hollywood Reporter as a "provocative and important" attempt to spark conversation about the scandal, airs on US network Showtime from January 30.

Also premiering at Sundance on Saturday was "Sharp Stick," the first new film in over a decade from "Girls" creator Lena Dunham.

The Sundance festival runs until January 30.

Z.Ma--ThChM