Actress Bella Maclean has revealed she included a no nudity clause in her contract for the Disney+ drama Rivals.
The 28-year-old plays Taggie O'Hara in the show, which is set in the world of independent television in 1986 and centres on a rivalry between Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) and former MP Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell).
Protecting Taggie's Character
Speaking about the clause in an interview with Harper's Bazaar, Maclean said: "It was important because of how pure Taggie's character was. I didn't want to sexually exploit her, and I didn't want to do that to myself either."
She added: "That was really important to me, and I think it will stay important to me. There are some things I just want to keep to myself."
Maclean also said she does not judge others who choose to appear nude, noting: "I don't judge anyone who does it. Sometimes it's so beautiful. If I had Victoria Smurfit's body, I'd probably be walking around naked."
She credited the production's intimacy coordinators, saying: "But in that sense, we're all lucky because there are amazing intimacy coordinators on our job. I know that's not the case for other people. We're all good friends who can just say no to the directors and they'll listen."
Carrying Jilly Cooper's Spirit
The series is an adaptation of the Rutshire Chronicles novel series by Dame Jilly Cooper, who died in October last year at the age of 88. Maclean said the new series, which returns to the streaming platform on November 11, would carry her spirit.
She added: "Jilly is the heart of everything we do, and I feel her naughtiness a lot in the second half of the new season. This series is so juicy, it gets so intense. That's all Jillyness. She pushed things."
Alongside Rivals, Maclean has also appeared in the fourth season of Netflix's Sex Education and the BBC crime drama Silent Witness.
The full interview with Maclean can be read in the December/January issue of Harper's Bazaar, on sale from November 6.
