Fans of the nude male form in film and on television, know there's a difference between nude scenes, and an actor actually being naked. Many actors have done nude scenes, a quick flash of their butt, an implied love scene, even a quick frontal flash. Most of these scenes are darkly lit, oddly angled, and shot so fast, if you blinked, you'd miss them.
HBO certainly hasn't shied away from male nudity, but most of the naked, comes from extras. If you think of Game of Thrones and Euphoria, some of the main cast members nude the darkly lit nude scenes, or use prosthetics, but the actual naked, was usually from unknown day players or extras.
We Are who We Are (2020)
It was a refreshing then, if not a bit shocking, to have a naked actor, actually be naked in the premiere of HBO's. We Are Who We Are. There were actually several actors naked in the pilot, but the longest exposure came from Jonathan, played by Israeli actor Tom Mercier. The lighting wasn't too dark, there were several views of both Tom's front, and back, and just like the main character of Fraser, we were encouraged to take it all in and enjoy the vies.
Hey, hey, cutesy pie! You lost?
As great as the scene was, it was tame compared to Tom's previous nude scenes in 2019's Synonymes. It felt as if Tom was naked for at least half of the film. The film opens with Tom spending almost four minutes showering, and the running around an apartment building looking for his missing clothes.
Synonymes (2019)
'Mercier’s naked body plays a central role in “Synonyms.” Already at the beginning we see him, in the character of Yoav, entering an empty apartment in an elegant Parisian building, stripping, getting into the shower and pleasuring himself. It’s the scene of the birth of a wild person. Facing the viewers is a raging bull, lost in an alienated space. A body seeking solid ground to walk on. Even when he discovers that someone stole the little property he brought with him from his native land, he goes out naked into the street.'
In Nadav Lapid’s Golden Bear winning film, Synonyms, Mercier’s character leaves the dark socio-political climate of Israel with the hope of finding beauty in France. I'm not sure if it's actual beauty that Yoav finds, but it is an adventure. I look forwad to where Mercier's character goes on his new series, as whether nude, naked or fully dressed, he's a compelling actor to watch on screen.
