So I wanted to talk to you about nudity vs. just regular shoots. I have my own criteria for doing nudity, but everybody has to come up with their own based on personal morals and ethics. Years ago my mom told me about a story written by Tolstoy. I can’t remember the name of the story, but what I remember was that it was about this prostitute who was on a trip in a stagecoach across Russia during a conflict. She may have been a prostitute, but she had her own moral code so she would only sell herself to her own countrymen and not to their enemies. However, while travelling, an enemy soldier holds up the stagecoach and he basically says that he will allow them to pass unharmed if she will give herself to him. She does it and they travel on, but in doing so, she has gone back on her morals. According to my mom, the book was about how that choice destroyed this woman because while she was a prostitute, she had always had a moral code and she broke it. She went back on her own personal morals which destroyed her as a person.
When I originally came out to Hollywood, my teachers would always talk about doing nude scenes or what it was like doing a nude scene and they’d say, “we don’t want you to do a nude scene in class, but it’s like that”. Eventually I did a nude scene and I told my parents about it and that’s when she told me about Tolstoy and the prostitute. Her reason for telling me was to make sure that I understood her when she said that she didn’t care what my morals are, as long as I decide them for myself.
And, you know, I was fortunate enough to have her support because my mom definitely has a very different set of morals to me. She wouldn’t even be an actor. She thinks that all actors are prostitutes. I don’t know what century she lives in, but I will add that in a way she’s right. Acting teachers will say that you will sell your morals in this job. I mean, they would use nudity as an example, but here is another example. I don’t personally think cigarettes are bad, but I did an anti-smoking thing. So technically, yes, I would sell my morals or my beliefs for a part in a movie. Her only point was, that it was for me to decide what my morals are and how far I’m willing to go for anything. And that is always a personal decision. It’s not one that anybody else can make for you.
My other acting teacher, Richard Lawson, great acting teacher, would always say, never let your art pass through the lens of somebody else’s morality.
That’s such a big, big quote, because your art and your work has to be yours and you have to be happy with it, not only artistically, but also in terms of your morals. However, if you’re running your life based on other people’s morals, it’s going to be a rough life, especially as an artist, because it’s hard to judge other people as an actress. If I’m going to play a drug addict, I can’t sit in judgement and say that they’re wrong because I’ll never be able to portray them accurately. I believe that in all forms of art, it’s important to get rid of the judgment. That was one of the things I admired about my teachers, Alan Williams and Richard Lawson and Chick Vennera. They never judged people.
They knew that as an artist, as an actor, you cannot judge who you are playing and you have to meet with people and talk to them and discover them and pick apart their life. Another thing Richard Lawson would always say is that he was an anthropologist, a studier of life. That spoke to me, because when I talk to strippers, drug addicts or drug dealers or really anybody in any job, I want know about them. Really know about them and what brought them to where they are and I’m interested in everything they’ll tell me. And I’m not judging them because I’m not living and walking in their shoes, but I’d like to be able to put myself into their shoes when performing my plays and my pieces . So I’m taking that information that they give me and I’m learning about their experiences and then being able to relive them through my art.
Morals are a very big thing in your art and it is a decision only you can make. So if you decided to do nudes, then read on because the thing about nudes is that I’m totally comfortable with them. I think a woman’s body is probably one of the most beautiful things out there. Look at a pregnant women for example, to me they’re so gorgeous, the glow to their cheeks and just their ‘aliveness’. They’re just beautiful and they’re carrying another life, beautiful and vulnerable. Anyway, so doing nude shoots does not bother me. I do however prefer to be classy and artistic. If the photographer is being sleazy about it or he doesn’t know what he’s doing, I’m not really interested in working with them.
Personally money does not move me, it’s not a big motivator, but art does. Like I said, I did that anti-smoking shoot which was against my personal beliefs on smoking, but for a lot of people, their belief is strongly anti-cigarettes and smoking, so to each his own. For me though, I was willing to go against my own beliefs for my art. So I will do nudes for the art of it, too and that’s my personal choice. As for the money side of things, when it comes to negotiating, that’s a topic for a different blog post. Today is more about you discovering what your boundaries are. The truth is that maybe you will go past your boundaries and, as I’ve said before, that’s OK. You can always go back and say, these are my new boundaries or this is what I did before but I really don’t like doing this now. That is part of growing up and being mature and understanding yourself. The more you understand yourself and figure out your own boundaries, not somebody else’s boundaries that were set for you, the more you can just be free as an artist.
For me, that’s what this is about, being free as an artist. Truth is, you cannot create if it’s only about the money. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you shouldn’t get paid. Hell yeah you should get paid. There are a lot of fantastic artists that do better work and get paid more, and that the other reason to be working with better photographers and ultimately knowing your worth. I cannot emphasize how valuable that is, but like I said, for me, money isn’t the main focus. I’ve known so many artists and photographers that started out working for free and just working at it more and more until they got really good. Then they started demanding to be paid, got better and demanded more money and that’s how they’ve become successful.
So first you’ve got to find out who you are, what you’re willing to do, and most importantly what your moral code is. Then I’d recommend that you do as much work as you can, trade for photos and then demand money and then demand more money.
Know your worth.