On a recent episode of Penn Badgley's Podcrushed podcast, Jameela Jamil revealed she "pulled out" of an audition for the host's Netflix show You because it was "too sexy" for her.
And her reason was grounds enough for stepping away:
"I don't do sex scenes."
"In fact, I was supposed to audition for the most recent season of your show."
The Good Place actor explained to the host:
"My character was supposed to be quite sexy, and I pulled out of the audition, because I am so shy about anything sexy that I can't."
Jamil attributed this feeling to "deep childhood sexual trauma stuff."
She added:
"I can't even watch sex scenes in films."
"Even on my own, I have to fast-forward through sex scenes because I've become so shy about watching other people."
You can hear the podcast below.
WARNING: NSFW language
People on social media applauded Jamil for setting boundaries and not putting herself in an uncomfortable situation.
\u201c@people Good for her\u201d— People (@People) 1683495604
\u201c@BuzzingPop Good for her! She knows her limits and knows what she is and isn't comfortable with\u201d— Buzzing Pop (@Buzzing Pop) 1683505538
\u201c@THR More actors should be so bold to practice such limits. Far too often, said scenes don't serve the plot but are written for voyeuristic fantasy reasons. "Oh I want to see that actor naked sexy time" is not a legitimate story reason.\u201d— The Hollywood Reporter (@The Hollywood Reporter) 1683502842
\u201c@THR Good for her. I respect.\u201d— The Hollywood Reporter (@The Hollywood Reporter) 1683502842
\u201c@THR Glad to see someone with some respect for herself.\u201d— The Hollywood Reporter (@The Hollywood Reporter) 1683502842
\u201c@THR Good for her.\u201d— The Hollywood Reporter (@The Hollywood Reporter) 1683502842
\u201c@IndieWire Good for her \u2764\ufe0f Know Thy Self\u201d— IndieWire (@IndieWire) 1683482599
\u201c@CBR I respect that.\u201d— Comic Book Resources (@Comic Book Resources) 1683503205
\u201c@IndieWire Good for her. Sex scenes serve no purpose\u201d— IndieWire (@IndieWire) 1683482599
Jamil did share she was a little irritated, however, when Badgley decided he wouldn't be doing any more sex scenes in You.
"Then you came out and were like, 'Yeah, I'm not doing sex scenes anymore because I'm just going to protect myself."
"And I was like, 'I didn't even know that was a boundary that we could draw. That's fantastic."
"But then I was like, 'I should have gone and done the f**king show."
Who knows, there may still be a chance we see Jamil in season 5 of You as she quipped to Badgley:
"If you need an asexual character to murder, you just bring me in."
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