Emily Atack certainly turned up the heat with her latest role in the Disney+ adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s saucy novel Rivals. The 34-year-old actor left audiences gobsmacked with a bold appearance on-screen where she played tennis in the nude.
The series delves into two characters becoming members of the mile-high club mid-flight, all before Emily’s jaw-dropping scene steals the show within the first 25 thrilling minutes of the production.
Chatting about her character on Loose Women on Monday (October 21), Emily clapped back at detractors criticising the nudity in the series.
Having hurdled over naysayers, the ex-Inbetweeners star divulged: “I read the script, and they said, ‘there is going to be a lot of nudity. Are you up for this? ‘I said, ‘Disney, there is no way on earth that you are going to get me playing tennis! ‘. But honestly, it was the best job I have ever done in my life; the cast was amazing,” reports the Mirror.
Coleen Nolan probed further about Emily’s experience, questioning: “Were you nervous when it came to the sex scenes and being naked?”
Unfazed, Emily hit back, saying: “I’m actually fine with it,” and tackled the hypocrisy she faces: “It’s so funny isn’t it, because people kind of go ‘well you need to pick a lane, you can’t be somebody who does these kinds of roles and campaigns for sexual violence against women’, but people think you can’t do both.
“I am really trying to hammer this message home, saying that yes, you can. I am exactly where I need to be, at work in a professional environment.”
Emily shared: “Obviously, in the past, it wasn’t always that way. We have intimacy coordinators now, and it’s heavily choreographed. We’re all having a nice time, and we’re all being professional. I’m doing my job; I’m not going to change what I’m doing; it’s the behaviour of other people that needs to change.”
Brenda Edwards expressed her admiration for Rivals, confessing she binge-watched all eight episodes in one go. “It’s brilliant, and you are amazing,” the panellist complimented Emily before enquiring about her handling of the show’s backlash.
In response, Emily said: “It’s funny, isn’t it? As women, we are so used to having to think about our behaviour, like what we wear. We can’t go for a job after dark; we have to take a different route home.
“All we are saying is, men all of a sudden now have to look inward at their own behaviour. They have been allowed to get away with for years, some men and not all men, they can’t stand the fact they need to look inward and change their behaviour. We have had to do it forever, so it’s educating.”
Host Ruth Langford then chimed in, “I hope there is going to be another series.” Emily agreed, proudly labeling Rivals as a piece of ‘escapism’.
Loose Women airs weekdays at 12:30pm on ITV and ITVX