‘Women are predominantly exposed to sexism in the workplace, sometimes coming forth about it after the fact. Facing the reality of these practices and bringing them to light is extremely important, even for celebrities. This is exactly what Nancy Kwan did recently in her new memoir, The World of Nancy Kwan. The now 85-year-old actress shared it all following a disagreement that took a bad turn when she was starring in the movie The World of Suzie Wong 65 years ago!
In the movie, which came out in 1960, Nancy played a sex worker from Hong Kong. She ends up falling in love with an American architect (William Holden). Everything was going fine in the day-to-day filming until it wasn’t. Nancy explained, “I loved every day of making Suzie Wong, except one when a disagreement exploded over my costume and prompted me to rebel.”
She went on to reveal that her character was supposed to rip off her dress, revealing “sexy” lingerie. However, she didn’t want to do that and so she put on a slip before the scene took place. According to the actress, “All hell broke loose” because of her decision.
Nancy remembers, “Wardrobe had selected sexy black undergarments for the big reveal, but I was modest and secretly substituted a full slip, which was not what Dick Quine expected to see.”
She went on to explain that these things are definitely handled very differently than they were in the 60s. “Today, an intimacy coordinator would be on set to ensure I was comfortable with such a sensitive scene, but we didn’t have that kind of protection in 1960.”
When she refused the instructions, she claims that she cried because she was too embarrassed to wear something like that. She questioned, “Were they taking advantage of my youth and inexperience? Absolutely, but I didn’t have a choice.”
Unfortunately, Nancy felt like she was pushed into following the scene exactly as Quine wanted it to play out. She said, “I dried my eyes, dressed in the approved lingerie, and went back to work, telling myself I was being professional. We got through the scene, but I felt vulnerable.” She even went on to explain that this wasn’t the worst of what happened. Kwan experienced a black eye on set while filming a fight scene that was supposed to look as “realistic” as possible.
This isn’t the first time, nor will it be the last, female celebrities experienced sexism in the workplace. Let alone be forced into a scene that made them uncomfortable. As more actresses speak up about the inherent sexism in cinema, I hope it leads to a positive outcome.
Intimacy coordinators are a step forward, but the industry could do more as a whole. No women, actress or not, should feel they’re unsafely pushed into an unpleasant situation. And not wanting to be that vulnerable in a scene shouldn’t come with the baggage of being “disagreeable.”
