Nicholas Hoult: Filming sex scenes on Skins as a teen was uncomfortable

Nicholas Hoult has revealed he felt intimidated filming sex scenes in Skins at the age of 17, and that he would like to stop doing nude scenes.

In interview with GQ Hype, Hoult revealed his time on Skins came before the normalisation of intimacy coordinators in the film and television business.

He described himself as a “kid doing a job” during the intimate scenes.

“I’d done it for a long time at that point, but it’s also a weird position to be put in,” he said.

“Not that they were bad experiences or anything… It comes much more from, ‘Just get this done as quickly as possible so I can be comfortable again and carry on with the part of acting I like.’ A lot of acting is pretty terrifying.”

Hoult has not shied away from nude scenes throughout his career, including in the recent historical drama True History of the Kelly Gang, in which he starred alongside George MacKay.

He revealed a nude scene on True History made him particularly nervous due to a Shetland pony that was on set at the time.

“I guess this character is a very relaxed sexual predator or whatever, but it’s never comfortable being naked on set, around 15, 30 or 100 people that you don’t know,” he said.

“In my mind, I’m like, ‘This pony just got lured in here with a carrot. I’m sitting here naked. It’s looking at me like I’m a tasty snack.’ I froze… I’d like to stop having to get naked at work,” he said.

He said playing a villainous Englishman in colonial Australia in True History led to some unpleasant days on set.

“I remember there was a scene in The Kelly Gang where I had to hold a gun to a baby’s head,” he said.

“My son was around the same age and it was really difficult in many ways. It was actually quite horrible to do that.”

He continued: “I was glad to not be playing that character any more, if I’m honest, because it was just doing horrible things every day at work. And that’s not something that sat too well.”

Read the full feature online at GQ Hype.