Carice van Houten has claimed the #MeToo movement inspired ‘Game of Thrones’ to feature less nudity.
The 42-year-old actress – who has 22-month-old son Monte with partner Guy Pearce – stripped off for her role as Melissandre in the HBO series but admitted she didn’t always feel "uncomfortable" having to bare all while others around her were fully clothed, and she doesn’t think it was always necessary.
Asked if she ever felt uncomfortable with her nude scenes in the show, Carice – who also stripped in 2006 film ‘Black Book’ – said: "Yes and no. It wasn’t my favourite thing in the world at all.
"But yes, in ‘Black Book’, I experienced nudity on set. The Dutch are quite open-minded, we’re a bit easier with that. but it’s never comfortable being the only one undressed on set.
"It was before I had a child. I would be more uncomfortable now. The times have changed in many ways.
"Back then, it was all a little overwhelming. No one forced me into anything, but in hindsight, I might have been a little more cautious with it."
And discussing the #MeToo movement’s impact on how much less nudity there was in later seasons of ‘Game of Thrones’, she said: "Yes. It also showed that you don’t need it."
One of Carice’s most memorable moments on the show was when the Red Priestess convinced Stannis Baratheon to sacrifice his young daughter Shireen by burning her at the stake, and the actress thinks she’d find the scene more "troubling" if she’d had to film it after having her son.
She told Deadline: "I wasn’t a mother back then. I think I would have found it more troubling now.
"Of course it’s fiction, but that was raw and gruesome. I remember first reading it and thinking, ‘Are we actually going to do this scene?’"
Carice Van Houten: MeToo meant less nudity on Game of Thrones
