The White Lotus star Jason Isaacs has admitted he thinks he spoke out of turn while discussing a supposed Hollywood “double standard” when it came to male nudity.
Last week, Jason made it clear that he wasn’t up for getting into the specifics of his recent White Lotus nude scene while he was grilled about it on CBS Mornings.
“The Best Actress this year was Mikey Madison at the Oscars, and I don’t see anybody discussing her vulva, which was [on screen, in Anora] all the time,” he told the presenters.
Jason later added: “I think it’s interesting that there’s a double standard for men, but when women are naked – Margaret Qualley, as well, in The Substance – nobody would dream of talking to them about their genitalia or nipples or any of those things.”
After being pressed even further to discuss whether he wore a prosthetic when his White Lotus character accidentally exposed himself to his family, the former Harry Potter star quipped: “What is your obsession? Are you having therapy?
“Mike White is a brilliant writer, it’s the best series on television for a long time. And what is the obsession with penises? It’s an odd thing.”
However, in a statement issued to Variety, the British star admitted he regretted his choice of words when he called out the supposed “double standard”.
Jason claimed: “I said the wrong words in the wrong way. I used the phrase ‘double standard,’ which I didn’t mean at all. There is a [different] double standard — women have been monstrously exploited and men haven’t.”
He went on to say he was “tired” after “so many interviews” and his words “came out wrong”.
“I absolutely should not have mentioned those two actresses, whom I respect enormously,” he continued. “Mikey Madison I’m a massive fan of.
“My point wasn’t that men have had a harder time than women — that would be absurd. Women have had a monstrous time on camera forever, and I hope to God that is changing.”
“Women have been exploited forever in cinema and made to be gratuitously naked and asked totally inappropriate questions,” he then insisted, but maintained that questions about his own nude scene remain “embarrassing and inappropriate”.
“It just strikes me as a bit weird and slightly obsessive,” Jason added of questions about whether he used a prosthetic. “I thought I could have fun batting it off, but I batted it off very poorly.”
Recently, Jason admitted that on-screen nudity was “not something I’m keen on doing in my social life or in my professional life”, but said he made an exception for The White Lotus creator Mike White.
The White Lotus continues on Mondays in the UK on Sky and Now.
