Before she established herself as a household name on S-x and the City as Carrie Bradshaw, Sarah Jessica Parker was an aspiring actress struggling to set her boundaries on-screen.
During her decades-long career, the Divorce star has famously refused to strip down in front of the camera for n-de scenes, even enacting a no-n-dity contract clause during the six seasons of the hit HBO series, but it wasn’t always easy sticking to her guns.
In this week's cover story for People, the SATC alum touched on the widespread s-xual misconduct and insane pressures of working in film as a woman, recalling: “I don’t know if I had confidence or if I was being counseled by people. There was so much pressure for me to take my clothes off.”
While opening up about one particularly uncomfortable scenario early in her career, Parker credited her agent and a stranger for helping her stand up for herself. “My agent sent a car and a plane ticket [to the film set] and he said, ‘If anybody makes you do anything that you’re not comfortable doing, you don’t,'” she remembered.
“Given what’s happening now and the stories told from that particular period, I know how lucky I am that there was someone—in this case, a man—who stepped in,” she continued.
That’s not to say that every instance was straightforward, as another situation left her “sobbing.” “They were like, ‘Sarah Jessica’s going to be n-de tomorrow,’ and I was like ‘I’m not going to be n-de,’” she said.
The designer insists that her choice to stay clothed doesn’t dissuade her support of women who do choose to disrobe on film, explaining that she just never “dug it” personally. “It’s not a value thing, or like I’m judging anyone else,” she clarifies. “I think it’s great when women feel comfortable doing it, and that’s their choice,” she told the publication.
Back in 2016, the producer opened up about her long-standing stance against n-dity on-screen in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“I’ve always had one, and it’s apropos of absolutely nothing,” she said. “Some people have a perks list and they are legendary. They have to have white candles in their room. I don’t have a crazy list like that. I’ve just always had [a no-n-dity clause].” We commend SJP for staying true to herself.
