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In “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” Emma Thompson has a scene where she has to look at herself completely naked and be content with what she sees. The acclaimed actor described the scene as challenging and quietly radical, as film often doesn’t depict naked bodies that are outside the narrow confines of what’s considered perfect.

“Probably the hardest thing that I’ve ever had to act, is standing in a relaxed manner and looking at my body without judgment,” Thompson said at the Variety Virtual Sundance Studio, presented by Audible. “You ask any woman to do that, I bet you 9.9 times out of 10, they won’t be able to do it. But do it on camera? Forget it. We’re used to not liking our bodies. We’ve been trained to hate our bodies from very early on, because they don’t match the impossible and actually cruel ideals that we are presented with.”

Thompson was joined by her co-star Daryl McCormack and director Sophie Hyde in a conversation hosted by Variety senior culture and events editor Marc Malkin. The three talked about working together and exploring ideas of intimacy, connection and pleasure in the comedy-drama, which focuses on a widow who hires a male escort and ends up on a journey of self-discovery.

Going into the project, McCormack and Hyde talked to real-life sex workers in order to more accurately portray the profession in the film. Hyde said the experience gave her deep respect for the skill and care that many sex workers bring to their profession.

“I was amazed at how skillful the people I was talking to were in terms of understanding and reading another human, especially when it comes to things like their bodies and sex,” Hyde said. “Things that we have barriers and fake personas around and all sorts of things, the way that they could navigate that and then speak about those things, I found really amazing. We see on screen so much representation of sex work that is deeply problematic, really negative portrayals or the ‘Pretty Woman’ thing where someone falls in love and finally gets to leave and be rescued or that it’s all dangerous. Coming to understand how varied it is and how normal and ordinary it is as well was brilliant.”

Watch the full conversation above.

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