Why Emma Thompson Got Naked With 'Good Luck To You, Leo Grande' Director

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande director Sophie Hyde made the set less awkward by stripping off with her cast members Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack.

The movie, written by British comedian Katy Brand, sees Nancy (Thompson), an aging woman, hire a male escort (McCormack) in an effort to finally find sexual enlightenment.

The sex comedy drama has been the darling of the film festival circuit in 2021, with critics also raving about the movie and its performances. It currently holds a 97 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences now have a chance to rate the movie for themselves as Good Luck To You, Leo Grande is available to watch on Hulu.

Ahead of its launch, director Hyde and writer Brand spoke to Newsweek to reveal how they brought the sex-positive story to the screen, and how they normalized nudity on set.

Leo Grande's Origins

The story of Good Luck To You, Leo Grande had been ruminating in Brand's head for years, and it wasn't until January 2020 that she finally put time aside to write down her thoughts.

Months later, the pandemic came along and allowed her time to finesse the script, and turn it into the story we see on screen today. While the story is mostly set from Nancy's perspective, Brand and the team also ran the script by sex workers to make sure the escort's character and experiences felt authentic.

Once the script was written and received the green light from all parties, the casting of the two lead roles began.

"I wrote it with Emma in mind," Brand told Newsweek, "Although I didn't actually ever dream that she would do it or even get this far. I thought we would, maybe if I wrote something quite small and tight, and inexpensive, someone might put it on in a little theater somewhere."

Together with Thompson and the director, the second half of the script was re-worked. Thompson herself is an Oscar-winning writer for adapting the Sense and Sensibility script for her 1995 movie.

Normalizing Nakedness

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande features a predominantly two-person cast, in one setting, discussing the topic of sex. Almost inevitably, the movie showcases nudity and scenes of a sexual nature.

In order to make her actors feel comfortable, Australian Sophie Hyde broke the ice by joining them in their naked rehearsals.

"I never thought I would do that. Actually I always thought, well, that's the actor's job," Hyde explained to Newsweek. Part of the rehearsal process included Thompson and McCormack to be naked with each other, but Hyde joined them too. "I thought, 'okay, I am asking them to do this. And I'm also asking us to action something about our own experience of our bodies, which is to try and appreciate them for what they do in the world." She continued, "To discuss the stories that they hold rather than for what they look like. And if you're trying to ask everyone to action that for you. There's a little bit of you that's like, I should action this as well, I need to inhabit it.

"We did a process where we would remove a piece of clothing and introduce that part of our body to each other." This process included introducing their arms, their feet and so on, showcasing a scar to their colleagues.

"We were introducing our bodies as things that were being, and not visual things, that was the important thing."

Hyde continued, "It was nerve-racking. And everybody is just thinking about their own bodies in front of you. It was a reminder that we are all naked, and it's so strange and that we're so prudish and protective of nakedness."

Once the initial exercise was over, Hyde left her two actors to their own devices. "Slowly I started putting my clothes back on, and they were trying some things out that we were going to be filming. For them it was a freedom and they had the safety and security to test some things. They didn't want to test in front of a crew.

"By the time they were doing the last few days on set where they were naked and intimate quite a lot, they were so comfortable with each other. Just so ready and natural with each other's bodies as well," Hyde said.

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande builds to a crescendo in terms of nudity, and writer Brand gave 63-year-old Thompson the final say as to whether she wanted to go all out, so to speak.

"After I wrote that part in the script, we were very respectful towards Emma and curious as to how it happened, how it would be shot." Brand said, "She is an artist, she put aside her personal concerns and trepidation and said, 'No, this is how the story has to end. This is the right way for the story to end'."

In terms of the press reaction to Thompson's nudity in the movie, Brand says the conversations have been very mature, though some journalists have displayed one bad habit...

"I think we've all kind of raised an eyebrow about the need for everyone to say how 'brave' it is. But maybe we don't have to say 'brave', maybe we can just normalize it."

Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack star in the movie Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, which is available to stream on Hulu now. The movie is also available to watch in cinemas in other territories including the U.K.