Emma Thompson has spoken candidly about beauty standards in Hollywood and how she “deeply regrets” removing her pubic hair.
The 63-year-old actor discussed how she filmed her first ever nude scene for Good Luck to You, Leo Grande during a recent interview with BBC’s Woman’s Hour. When asked about pubic hair, Thompson addressed how she previously got hers entirely removed, which she’s had some regrets about, since the hairs haven’t “quite grown back” in the way that she expected.
“I greatly regret the demise of the full bush,” she explained. “I did once do the full thing, years and years ago. But really, I regret it because [they’ve] never quite grown quite to my liking, but that’s also getting old.”
She went on to acknowledge how strange it is that women are expected to “get rid of” all their body hair, before detailing how she doesn’t shave every part of her body.
“But the whole thing of ‘we’ve got to get rid of all our hair is odd, isn’t it?,’” Thompson continued. “And probably not very healthy. I haven’t shaved under my arms in a long, long time, but I do still have my legs.”
As the Cruella star said that she’s gotten used to shaving her legs, she also confessed that she is “not entirely comfortable” when her leg hair grows back.
“I’ve just got into that habit and when they grow back in, my hairs, I’m not entirely comfortable, and I go, well that’s brainwashing as well,” she added.
Thompson has previously opened up about how societal beauty standards have impacted her career.
While speaking at Cinema Cafe’s panel at Sundance Film Festival last January, she discussed her nude scene in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande and how “challenging” it was for her to do “at her age,” due to the “dreadful demands” that women are supposed to meet, regarding their weight.
“It’s very challenging to be nude at 62,” she said. “Nothing has changed in the dreadful demands made upon women in the real world but also in acting. This thing of having to be thin is still the same as it ever was, and actually in some ways I think it’s worse now.”
“I don’t think I could’ve done it before the age that I am,” she added. “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.”
