Samantha Morton says she was pressured into TV nudity when she was just 16

November 2024 · 3 minute read

Samantha Morton has revealed she was pressured into performing sex scenes when she was just 16.

The Walking Dead star, 43, rose to fame as a teenager, starring on the small screen from the age of 13.

But she admitted she would often try to find ways to avoid stripping off in front of the camera, particularly in the ITV crime drama Band of Gold which focused on a group of sex workers in Bradford.

Honest: Samantha Morton has revealed she was pressured into performing sex scenes when she was just 16

Honest: Samantha Morton has revealed she was pressured into performing sex scenes when she was just 16

Speaking to Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on Tuesday's This Morning, the star was asked about her experience of sex scenes in the industry in the 1990s. 

She said: 'I think for me at 16 in Band Of Gold and how I was treated. Obviously I was lucky to get the role, I didn't come from drama school. 

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'But I was considered quite difficult when I had issues performing sex scenes. 

'The lovely costume girls would say to put corn plasters on your nipples and if the director want to shoot your boobies, because you're being told to be naked and topless, then they can't use it when they're editing. 

Looking back: The Walking Dead star, 43, rose to fame as a teenager, starring on the small screen from the age of 13

Looking back: The Walking Dead star, 43, rose to fame as a teenager, starring on the small screen from the age of 13

Throwback: Samantha played a 14-year-old sex worker on the ITV crime drama Band of Gold when she was just 16

Throwback: Samantha played a 14-year-old sex worker on the ITV crime drama Band of Gold when she was just 16

Protective: The Walking Dead star said the costume girls would encourage her to put plasters over her nipples so her scenes couldn't be used

Protective: The Walking Dead star said the costume girls would encourage her to put plasters over her nipples so her scenes couldn't be used

'There was never that case of "this girl is 16".'

Ruth then asked the Fantastic Beasts star if she feared about how directors would react when she shied away from nudity.

But Samantha replied: 'Not then. I was just me and I was playing this very complicated character who was 14 and I was 16.

'I'd had a play at the Royal Court but I hadn't even had any professional training so I just felt so lucky to have even a speaking role.' 

Provocative: The Golden Globe winning star said she was seen as difficult for trying to avoid the racy scenes

Provocative: The Golden Globe winning star said she was seen as difficult for trying to avoid the racy scenes

The Golden Globe winning star was speaking about her racy series Harlots which is based on a brothel in Georgian England.

BBC Two is airing all three series of the critically acclaimed period drama, acquired by the channel from ITV Studios. 

Samantha, Lesley Manville, 64, and Jessica Brown Findlay, 30,  star in the series, which is produced by Monumental Pictures, part of ITV Studios. 

Raunchy: Period drama Harlots is airing on BBC Two starring Samantha (left) as a brothel owner and mother alongside Liv Tyler and Lesley Manville, (right)

Raunchy: Period drama Harlots is airing on BBC Two starring Samantha (left) as a brothel owner and mother alongside Liv Tyler and Lesley Manville, (right) 

Liv Tyler, 43, joins the cast in series two and three. The show first aired in 2017. 

Set against the backdrop of 18th century London, Harlots is a powerful family drama offering a brand new take on the city’s most valuable commercial activity - sex. 

Inspired by the stories of real women, the series follows Margaret Wells (Morton) and her daughters, as she struggles to reconcile her roles as mother and brothel owner. 

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