‘The Crown’ Star Claire Foy Says Women ‘Exploited’ by Sex Scenes: ‘The Grimmest Thing You Can Do’

Actress Claire Foy, who will star in a mini series as a British royal who became embroiled in a sex scandal in 1963, says filming sex scenes is “grim” and that women are often exploited by them.

Claire Foy has a starring role in a limited series about the scandalous 1963 divorce case of Margaret Campbell, the Duchess of Argyll, who became the subject of shame when racy photos were leaked to the press during her court case. The media dubbed her the “dirty duchess” over the photos.

The First Man and The Crown star recently spoke about how embarrassing it is to film sex scenes despite efforts of the crew to ease the tensions on set.

“It’s a really hard line because basically you do feel exploited when you are a woman and you are having to perform fake sex on screen. You can’t help but feel exploited,” Foy said, according to Yahoo News. “It’s grim – it’s the grimmest thing you can do.”

Foy, 37, added that women “feel exposed” filming such scenes.

“You feel exposed. Everyone can make you try to not feel that way but it’s, unfortunately, the reality. But my thing was that I felt very strongly that it had to be in it, but I wanted it to be female. I did not want it to be that sort of awful climactic sexual experience you often see on the cinema screen,” she said.

The Emmy-winning actress, who has played part in several sex scenes in her career,  went on to blast people for “slut shaming” women.

“I hate the phrase slut-shaming, I absolutely hate it,” Foy said. “But I think that women have basically been slut-shamed forever. I think Eve probably was slut-shamed.” She then insisted that the word slut “shouldn’t probably exist.”

Still, Foy praised the film business and society in general for the change that has empowered women.

“I can only speak from personal experience as opposed to like a cultural revolution kind of way, but I feel like there is a room and an acceptance now that I never would have had,” she continued. “There will be scenarios at work, for example, where things will be happening that I would feel were wrong, but I was told that I wasn’t right by society. And now what happens is there’s a forum for me and my friends and my colleagues where, if something’s wrong, there’s someone who goes, ‘Yes, I’m affirming that is actually wrong.”

A Very British Scandal will premiere on the BBC on Dec. 26.

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