The British star can hardly complain about the presence of sex scenes in movies.
She has fearlessly faced the camera naked more than once in films raging from 1969’s Age Of Consent and Caligula to the rather more genteel Calendar Girls.
Mirren has spoken out in the past that she never felt comfortable stripping on screen but accepted it was part of her job.
Now, though, she has blasted the modern perils facing any actress (or actor) doing naked scenes.
Mirren says it is social media and the internet which has changed anything. Her case is even proved by the actual images used for this article.
She said: “There used to be an understanding of privacy. There is no understanding of privacy now. Privacy is completely gone.
“Random people taking photos, emails being hacked, people doing screen grabs…”
Mirren added to i newspaper: “It used to be if you did a nude scene, for example, closed set, no photography.
“Now they (take) a screenshot from the movie and put it on the internet for everybody to see.”
In the past a movie lived only on the screen and in the audience’s memory, however vivid the images. Now every moment can be grabbed and distributed online, including those from films made before the internet era.
Even in more ‘private’ times the actress understood that x-rated and provocative naked scenes were ‘gratuitous.
She said: “A nude scene is something else, and my approach to it was I am embarrassed and mortified but I want to liberate myself.
“It is never necessary really unless you are doing a movie about nudism. It is always gratuitous.”
