Jesse Williams was nominated for a Tony Award last month for his work in ‘Take Me Out’, an acclaimed play about baseball and homophobia. But when his name became popular on Twitter the next day, it wasn’t because of the accolade: it was because someone surreptitiously shot a video of his nude scene and posted it online.
In a recent interview, Mr. Williams, who became a star through his performances in “Grey’s Anatomy”, said he was not deterred by the incident. “I’m here to work – I’m going to tell the truth on stage, I’m going to be vulnerable,” he said. But he also made it clear that he wasn’t okay with what had happened to him, saying that “posting nude photos on the internet without consensual consent is really wrong.”
Cell phones have long disrupted live performances by ringing at inopportune times, and have annoyed performers when people use them to illegally film their work. Now, the ubiquity of smartphones with ever-improving cameras is prompting some actors, especially celebrities, to reconsider whether they want to appear naked on stage, given the risk that what’s meant to be an ephemeral moment could last forever online, outside. the context.
“Ten years ago I don’t think the first thing that came out of my mouth would have been, ‘Are you OK knowing there’s a decent chance this will be filmed or photographed and appear on social media?'” Lisa Goldberg, a publicist who represents actors on Broadway, television and film, said of the discussions she has when an artist is asked to appear naked. “That would be one of the first things I would bring to a client today.”
Nudity has become commonplace on stage over the past 50 years, and big stars like Nicole Kidman and Daniel Radcliffe have performed naked scenes on Broadway when their scripts called for it. But the chance of being photographed au naturel has grown considerably. Being Broadway royalty offers no protection: Audra McDonald, who has won six Tonys, noted in 2019 that someone had taken a photo of her during a nude scene from “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.” “Not cool at all,” she wrote in a tweet†
The recent videos of Mr. Williams have emerged despite extraordinary steps taken by Second Stage Theatre, the producer of “Take Me Out”, to protect the privacy of the actors who appear to be naked. Spectators should turn off their phones and put them in bags that will be locked until the end of the show. The pouches, made by a company called Yondr, have become more and more common in recent years, especially on stand-up shows, as comedians both fiercely protect their jokes and fear that some, taken out of context, could cause a backlash.
About a million Yondr sachets were used at live events in April, nearly five times as many as in the same month in 2019, the company said. Other shows with nude scenes are trying them now: In late May, Penguin Rep Theater announced it would be deploying Yondr pouches on its upcoming Off Broadway production of “Mr. Parker” because the show features a brief moment of nudity.
Graham Dugoni, who founded Yondr in 2014, lamented that many people still struggle to figure out how to “be a human in the world with a computer in their pocket.”
“A nude photo is, of course, a very extreme extreme,” said Mr. dugoni. “But a comedian’s piece is taken out of context and repackaged on social media and reinterpreted — all these things don’t reinforce the art form. They kind of nibble at it in a way that makes people go into hedgehog mode.”
But the precautions are not foolproof. A comedy night at the Hollywood Bowl last month really shouldn’t have been a cell phone, but when the headliner, Dave Chappelle, was tackled onstage, video emerged of a few people who had managed to get around the rules. And earlier this spring, when Chris Rock had his first public stand-up set after Will Smith punched him onstage at the Academy Awards, attendees at Boston’s Wilbur Theater had to put their phones in Yondr bags too. They were only allowed to use them in a designated area off the lobby, where a cardholder sheepishly asked for his phone back because he forgot to text the nanny. Video of that show also emerged.
The ease of recording and uploading video has given pause to people considering stripping down in other situations, including some college students who have reassessed the wisdom of traditional nude campus walks and nudist beach habits, who are increasingly seeking are to cameras. But it becomes a specific problem in the theater where actors who are asked to appear nude have to agree when they sign their contracts.
Kate Shindle, the president of Actors’ Equity Association, said in an interview that many actors believe that live theater is “meant to be done within four walls” and that “when that sanctity is compromised, the work suffers. ” Recording from the audience, she said, can “feel like a felony — even if you’ve got all your clothes on.”
Filming or photographing involving nudity requires prior written permission, union officials said. That includes all of the videos that will appear in Theater on Film and Tape Archive at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, said Patrick Hoffman, the director and curator of the archive, which contains more than 4,400 video recordings of live theater productions. Most agree. But over the years, some actors have refused to record their nude scenes for the archive. In some cases, there have been understudies in their place and in others their productions have simply gone unrecorded. Some videos of shows featuring nudity in the archive are specially formatted so that researchers can watch them, but not pause, rewind, or fast-forward.
Secretive photography posed a challenge to actors who appeared on stage naked long before the iPhone debuted in 2007.
Today’s theater environment, where nudity is a regular feature on Broadway and even in some productions at the Metropolitan Opera, is a far cry from what it was like in 1969, when Margo Sappington, the choreographer and cast member of the original production of “Oh! Calcutta! ‘, who displayed extensive nudity, was among those arrested on charges of indecent exposure after performing in Los Angeles.
Even in that pre-smartphone era, cameras were a nuisance, Ms Sappington said. So the company decided on a low-tech mitigation measure: If someone saw a camera from the stage, they would stop the show, break the fourth wall and call out the ushers.
“Now it’s impossible to see cell phones in a Broadway theater after dark,” she said. “People are so disrespectful. It surprises me.”
And the leaking of the video with Mr. Williams had an all-too-familiar feel for Daniel Sunjata, who played the same character, Darren Lemming, when “Take Me Out” first ran on Broadway in 2003. Photos of his nude scenes leaked out as well, but were a little more contained in the film. era before Facebook and Twitter made social media so ubiquitous.
“The main difference between now and then is the amplitude,” said Mr. Sunjata, “the speed, the rate at which this kind of thing can spread.”
But the leaks worried Mr. Sunjata, who found the nude scenes challenging at first. He said he had consulted his lawyers and wanted to “make heads roll”.
for mr. Sunjata is the main difference between being naked on stage in front of a live audience eight times a week and having a photo of the nudity taken, not so much about the permanence of the photo as about the lack of context around it. “Anyone who hasn’t seen the piece will only see naked guys on stage,” he said.
The current “Take Me Out” revival has taken further steps to prevent people from filming the actors. As a backup to the Yondr pouches, Second Stage Theater has installed an infrared camera with pan, tilt and zoom capabilities so that security officials can see if members of the public are attempting to film the nude scenes.
At a performance of the play last month, two theater employees stood at the front of the theater on either side of the stage. They stood up during nudity scenes. Despite all precautions, a telephone rang five minutes after the first act. The crowd groaned audibly.
When mr. Williams was asked if he would re-register for a show in which he must appear naked, he protested. “I don’t know,” he said. “My reaction is never as hot, or loud, or miserable as everyone expects.”
Michael Paulson and Julia Jacobs reported. Sheelagh McNeill and Alain Delaquérière contributed research.
