8 Actors Who Refused Point-Blank To Get Intimate On-Screen

Jessica Wilson

With most Hollywood films now have at least one bold, intimate scene and lip locks becoming commonplace, stars often do exactly what the director tells them. However, there are some actors and actresses who prefer to stick to their guns.
While many of us would absolutely love the chance to make out with the most well-known Hollywood actors, such as Colin Firth, Orlando Bloom, or Leonardo DiCaprio, there really are stars who have felt the exact opposite.
After all, it was their choice, so we really can't be too upset about that, even though we'll never actually know how many intensely intimate scenes we may have missed out on as a result of their choices. Which actors, then, refused to have an intimate scenes with their co-stars? Here they are, with a word of caution: Some of them may even be favorites of yours.

#1 Blake Lively

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One of the actresses who will never be seen in an explicit scene on screen is Blake Lively, primarily because she doesn't like the way it looks and believes that these scenes are not necessary for the movie.  “When I see it in movies, I am always distracted by it,” she said. “I just don’t think that will ever be right for me.”

#2 Julia Roberts

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Julia Roberts is very particular about her on-screen performances after becoming a mother. She may still consider acting in some romantic scenes, but if the scene appears to be too explicit, she will request that it be toned down. “You know it’s not really what I do, so if you are going to ask me to do it, you have to expect it to be toned down,” she shared. “You know, as a mom of 3, I feel like that.”

#3 Keira Knightley

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Keira Knightley has decided to stop filming explicit scenes, especially with male directors, since becoming a mother. “I don’t have an absolute ban, but I kind of do with men,” she said.
She decided because she did not want to portray the "male gaze" any longer. When the filmmakers "just need somebody to look hot," Knightley says, she can tell. As a result, she refuses to take part in films like these.

#4 Mahershala Ali

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Because of the R-rated scene, he had to act in, Mahershala Ali almost turned down the role in David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Ali refuses to work in such scenes for personal reasons, and this nearly cost him a role in this iconic film.
However, Fincher made a concession and changed the scene so Ali could work easier. On the final decision, he and his scene partner "begin to kiss, and then we fall out of the frame," Ali explained.

#5 Megan Fox

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Megan Fox has decided to never again act in R-rated films and has turned down several promising roles. She is extremely worried about how her sons will see her on-screen. “There are just certain things boys should never see their mothers do,” she said.
She has faced multiple talented directors and offers to work, but recalls that “the things the women are required to do in the movie are things I can’t have my sons ever know or see.”

#6 Penn Badgley

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Penn Badgley, the lead actor in Netflix's You, had one request for season four: fewer intimate scenes. This decision was motivated by two factors.
First, he did not want his career to be defined by the role of the "romantic lead." Most importantly, he was motivated by love for his marriage. “Fidelity in every relationship — and especially my marriage — is important to me, and it just got to a point where I didn’t wanna do that,” the actor shared.

#7 Rebel Wilson

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Rebel Wilson is another actress who has strict regulations about R-rated scenes in her films. In her contracts, she specifies that candid scenes be avoided. Working on her film, Grimsby, they even hired a stand-in to play Wilson in these scenes.
“They got in another girl to be a double. And they got her to do all this stuff,” shared Wilson. And after seeing the scene, she said, “I’m not doing it. I don’t care what you say.”

#8 Sarah Jessica Parker

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Sarah Jessica Parker, the lead actress in the iconic Sex and the City franchise, strongly opposes the franchise's candid scenes. The dismissal of explicit scenes was even specified in her contract while working on the show.
“I don’t have any judgment about anyone who chooses to do it,” she said. “I think it’s fantastic that people feel comfortable doing it.” However, Parker herself has a “principal position” regarding such scenes and would never act in one.