‘Skins’ actress Kaya Scodelario’s horrifying (and recent) audition tale is proof little has changed

More and more actors and actresses have been speaking out about some of the horrifying things they’ve been asked to do to land a job, with Skins star Kaya Scodelario the latest to outline her experience. 

Scodelario’s tweets come in light of allegations of sexual misconduct made against producer and actor Noel Clarke. The subject of an article that appeared in The Guardian recently, several industry bigwigs have since reshared the piece, which contains a report about women who were required to attend naked auditions as part of the casting process. 

Choosing to share her story online, Scodelario tweeted about a particularly terrible audition she had in the past. 

“I had a [sic] audition for a job a few years ago. It said ‘she just needs to come in. Take her clothes off and that’s all’. I was terrified. Luckily I have an agent who swiftly said there was no way that was going to happen. This was a big movie. A big director. A big ‘opportunity’.

“Different casting, between me and another actress. Both worked very hard to impress this notoriously difficult director. auditioned [sic] multiple times. He emailed our agents ‘whoever agrees to go nude 1st gets the job’ The movie had no nudity in it. He just wanted 2 see who’d say yes.”

Purposely keeping specific details out of it, the actress followed her original tweet up with several others – admitting that she is “going to feel scared” about having Tweeted, even without having named names. 

“I’m going to wake up in the morning with anxiety about tweeting. Despite the fact that I haven’t named names. I’m still going to feel scared. The women who come forward openly are so brave. I am in awe of you all. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

MANY MANY young actors do not have the safely net of a caring agent to protect them. They will assume that it is normal for an actresses worth to be measured by the body they have. By the amount of skin they are willing to show. We have been conditioned to believe this.

— Kaya Scodelario (@kScodders) April 30, 2021

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Proving that there is still a very long way to go in safeguarding women against such blatant sexism, Scodelario said that incidents like this highlight the need for proper representation at every level. 

Confirming that she is taking steps to ensure the people she referenced in her tweets are held accountable for their actions, the actress said that she chose to “do that privately and through the correct industry channels”.

Feature image via @kayascods