If you are keen on getting into acting, taking drama classes for adults is a great start. But if you do well and have the chance to progress into stage or screen roles, you may have some qualms about what might be asked of you.
That could involve taking on roles that clash with your own values, or might feel particularly uncomfortable with on a personal level. A prime example of that could be having to perform naked or partially naked.
For many actors, especially women, this can be a challenge but in the past has often been seen as an obligation. In an interview with the Guardian, Joanna Lumley revealed how this was a part of her career that she felt compelled to do even though she thoroughly disliked it.
Name-checking contemporaries like Diana Rigg and Julie Christie, she said: “We all had to take at least our tops off in something. It was standard and it was this, ‘You’re not a real actress unless you take your top off.”
She added that “nobody likes it” and described undertaking sex scenes as “ghastly stuff we have to pretend to do”.
While you may be unlikely to be asked to perform naked or part-naked at an early stage, one way you might develop your fledgling without this is voice acting. With the right tone of voice, you can work on radio, in advert voice-overs and in other recordings.
Speaking to Bang Showbiz, Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage highlighted how he loves voice acting. “I find not relying on other things as an actor, and just solely your voice, it really can be very liberating,” he said.
Part of the appeal, he noted, is that he can wear his own clothes instead of a costume, ensuring he is comfortable at all times.
Of course, it wasn’t his role as Tyrion Lannister that saw his body exposed for all to see, unlike many of his co-stars. But the fact remains that voice acting does provide a means of avoiding visual exposure. Whether that means you get to wear whatever you want or simply get to wear something, it could offer many opportunities.