I do a weekly series that highlights female directors, but some female directors have doubled as actresses. I want to put all of those babes together and give a spotlight to the female filmmakers who have also gone nude themselves. These women direct other people to go nude and they go nude themselves! Let's check out some directors who have shown skin:
Greta Gerwig
Greta Gerwig is an Oscar-nominated writer and director who began her career as an actress in indie films. She was a starlet of the mumblecore movement before wowing us all with her bigger performances and eventually writing and directing Lady Bird. We are all avidly awaiting her latest film, Barbie, so she is the perfect person to start off this list.
Greta is not a stranger to nudity AT ALL. She has gone nude in Greenberg, Nights and Weekends, Young American Bodies, Hannah Takes the Stairs, Baghead, and many many many more. She's a pro! I doubt Barbie will feature nude scenes, but Greta clearly has no issues with doing them.
Sarah Polley
Canadian writer, director, and actress just won her first Academy Award for her script adaptation of Women Talking. She also directed the Skin classic Take This Waltz. So, yes, Sarah Polley knows nudity! Fewer and fewer people seem to remember that this pleasant and daring director began her career as an actress in various TV shows and movies. Sarah had sexy nude scenes in the 1999 film Guinevere which showed off her full, round mounds.
Olivia Wilde
Olivia Wilde had a controversial year as a director last year, but I still believe that she can overcome the scandal surrounding her 2022 film Don't Worry Darling. In fact, she has two films on the docket including an untitled Sony/Marvel project. So, yeah, it's safe to say that Ms. Wilde will be fine. And she certainly IS fine. She went wild with nudity in the show Vinyl in which she went full frontal (with a merkin).
Cheryl Dunye
Director Cheryl Dunye made a giant splash in 90s indie cinema, Black cinema, and queer cinema all in one go with her film The Watermelon Woman. Not only has it become a classic in all three of those categories, but Cheryl herself played the starring role. Since she was playing herself, a hip NYC lesbian, it should come as no surprise that Cheryl went nude after having a lesbian love scene.
Chantal Akerman
She is now hailed as one of the best filmmakers to have ever lived and few are aware that Belgian beauty Chantal Akerman has actually gone nude. This is a little-known fact, so you can consider this tit-bit a Mr. Skin exclusive. In Je, tu, il, elle, she engages in black-and-white sapphic activities.
She is best known for directing Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles which is considered one of the greatest films ever made. There IS nudity in that film as we discussed here, so Chantal was clearly comfortable directing nude scenes and acting in them.
