Mckenna Grace says she is not comfortable taking roles that involve nudity or highly sexualized scenes. The actress also has a long-held ambition to play a Disney princess, though she later stressed that the two comments are separate.
In an interview with Cosmopolitan, Grace said she respects performers who take on explicit material, but it is not something she wants to do right now.
“At this point, I definitely don’t do nudity or very hypersexual things,” she said. “I respect anybody who can, but it’s terrifying to me. I don’t know if that’ll ever change.”
Grace, 20, began acting as a child and has appeared in the “Ghostbusters” films, “Scream 7” and Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which earned her an Emmy nomination. She is also set to appear in the upcoming “Hunger Games” prequel, “Sunrise on the Reaping.”
Her boundaries don’t mean she plans to stick only to wholesome parts. “It’s not like I only do wholesome things — my character literally gets gutted by Ghostface in ‘Scream,’” she said, adding that she hopes to play a Disney princess someday.
After headlines connected the two remarks, Grace clarified on Instagram that they were unrelated. She said her feelings about nude or highly sexualized roles come down to her own comfort level at this point in her life, not her hope of playing a princess.
Entertainment critic Christian Toto suggested Grace’s early work on family-friendly shows may have shaped her perspective. He also speculated that seeing former child actors take on highly sexualized roles could have influenced her. In Toto’s view, Grace’s instincts may help her find a healthy path through Hollywood.
Other performers have described setting similar limits. Amy Adams has said she turned down a sexually explicit musical sketch on “Saturday Night Live” after starring as Giselle in Disney’s “Enchanted,” partly because she was thinking about the young viewers of the film.
“I was so keenly aware of all the young girls that were watching ‘Enchanted,’” Adams recalled. “And I didn’t want to be the princess singing about that particular act.”
Penn Badgley has also spoken about asking for fewer intimate scenes on “You,” citing his marriage as one reason. Actor Neal McDonough has said he avoids sex scenes and on-screen kisses with other actresses, pointing to his Catholic faith and his respect for his wife.
Angel Studios, meanwhile, has announced content standards it says will rule out on-screen sex, nudity and gratuitous profanity in its original releases. The Utah-based studio’s co-founder and chief content officer, Jeff Harmon, said Hollywood has moved away from the values of family audiences.
Harmon praised the industry’s storytelling and production skills, but said he believes it has become increasingly disconnected from the audiences it once served. He added that Angel Studios’ standards are intended to give families confidence about the material in its releases.
