Jason Isaacs has spoken out about how he regrets the recent comments he made regarding nudity on screen.
Isaacs is currently starring in the third season of The White Lotus, the fourth episode of which included a moment that shocked fans when his character Timothy Ratliff exposes himself, in a moment of full-frontal nudity.
The scene sparked a huge online reaction, prompting debate about whether Isaacs was wearing a prosthetic penis – which co-star Sam Nivola claimed he was during a press interview.
When asked outright whether a prosthetic was used during his appearance on CBS Mornings, Isaacs responded by saying there’s “a double standard for men” when it comes to being asked such questions, and that Anora actress Mikey Madison or The Substance star Margaret Qualley hadn’t received the same treatment.
Now, speaking to Variety, Isaacs is walking back his comments, stating: “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 continued: “It came out wrong, and I was tired — I’d done so many interviews. I absolutely should not have mentioned those two actresses, whom I respect enormously.
“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.”
Talking more broadly about The White Lotus, Isaacs said that he thinks part of why the show includes so much male nudity is to “redress the unfair balance”, in that historically, female nudity has been so much more prominent on screen.
He said: “Women have been exploited forever in cinema and made to be gratuitously naked and asked totally inappropriate questions.”
The actor does maintain that being asked so many times about his character’s full-frontal moment is “embarrassing and inappropriate”.
“I had been asked so many times in the same day by journalists, ‘Are you wearing a prosthetic?’,” Isaacs explained. “Which means, ‘Have I seen your actual penis? It’s very important for me to know if I’ve seen your penis.’ It just strikes me as a bit weird and slightly obsessive. I thought I could have fun batting it off, but I batted it off very poorly.”
The White Lotus continued to surprise viewers with its fifth episode, which featured an incestuous kiss that left fans reeling.
The third season of Mike White’s acclaimed HBO show received a four-star review from NME, with Nick Levine writing: “A little sweetness definitely helps to balance out the prevailing saltiness. As the season progresses, the sneaky intricacy of White’s plotting begins to yield surreal, shocking and genuinely hilarious moments.
“No one can write a scene where one character pretends not to remember another quite as exquisitely as White. Tanya may be gone, but this transgressive soap opera remains unique and completely jaw-dropping.”