When the gritty British TV show Skins premiered back in 2007, it almost instantly became infamous for the graphic way that it depicted teenagers indulging in sex, drugs, and alcohol.
Both actors admitted to feeling uncomfortable and unprotected when shooting sex scenes, and said that they have since realized they were “too young” to be stripping off on TV.
Shortly after the podcast episode dropped, Kaya Scodelario joined the conversation having shot to fame at the age of 14 as Effy in Season 1 of Skins — a character that had the rare feat of appearing in more than two seasons.
And in a new interview, Kaya has echoed this sentiment, and even revealed that she was able to implement what she’d learned the first time around when she returned for the Skins spin-off series Skins: Fire in 2013.
“I felt much more confident in saying what I felt during that series,” Kaya told the Guardian. “When the first draft came through, there were a lot of sex scenes in it, and I could tell it was because I turned 18, and that meant that they could show more. And I went back and said: ‘No, there’s no need to do that.’”
In addition to the uncomfortable sex scenes, former cast members have revealed that they were also pressured into looking a certain way — and even encouraged to skip meals — while working on Skins.
Skins was created by father and son Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain, and in response to the full podcast episode, Bryan’s rep said in a statement: “We’re deeply and unambiguously sorry that any cast member was made to feel uncomfortable or inadequately respected in their work during their time on Skins. We’re committed to continually evolving safe, trustworthy, and enjoyable working conditions for everyone who works in the TV industry.”
