Game of Thrones and Bodyguard star Richard Madden is, apparently, having really great onscreen sex in Elton John biopic Rocketman. The actor portrays John Reid, music manager and boyfriend of Elton John (played by Taron Egerton) in the upcoming film, and has at least one big scene with Egerton in which the two are fully nude. However, just because Madden was comfortable with the intimate onscreen moment, doesn't mean he's devoid of insecurities about his naked body being seen by the masses.
In a new interview with British Vogue, Madden got real about how there's nothing normal about the way actors are expected to prepare for these scenes.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
"We’re projecting a very unrealistic body image," Madden told the outlet. "I find myself with actor friends – after we’ve done a kind of barely eating, working-out-twice-a-day, no-carbing thing for these scenes – looking at each other going: 'We’re just feeding this same shit that we’re against.'"
Madden added that he's been told to lose weight for these particular scenes on "numerous jobs," and that while women often receive the brunt of body-shaming, men are also held to a too-high standard in Hollywood.
While many women in the industry have spoken out about being asked to lose weight for a role (Madden's GoT co-star Sophie Turner told SELF in 2017 that it happens to her regularly, while stars like Jennifer Lawrence, Margot Robbie, and Amber Tamblyn also admitted it was part of working in Hollywood) men are often left out of this side of the conversation. Many people assume that women have to work at getting themselves physically "ready" for a role, but forget that men, too, have pressure to look a certain way on screen. In fact, it seems that we only notice that men put in any physical work to a role when their body goes through a drastic change, such as when Adam Driver dropped to an extremely low weight for his film Silence.
Ultimately, body standards (and double standards) suck — for men and women. Kudos to Madden for reminding us.