Rising Hollywood star Mckenna Grace has drawn a firm line against participating in on-screen nudity, and separately revealed that her dream is to one day play a Disney princess.
Speaking with Cosmopolitan, Grace explained that she respects actors who appear in explicit scenes but said those roles do not align with her personal career goals.
“At this point, I definitely don’t do nudity or very hypersexual things,” Grace said when asked whether there were any roles she would turn down.
“I respect anybody who can, but it’s terrifying to me. I don’t know if that’ll ever change,” she added.
The 20-year-old actress, who is set to appear in the upcoming “Hunger Games” prequel “Sunrise on the Reaping,” began acting as a child. Her credits include the “Ghostbusters” films, “Scream 7” and Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” for which she earned an Emmy nomination.
Grace said she does not intend to limit herself to wholesome roles. However, she hopes to pursue opportunities that align with her personal boundaries and long-term ambitions.
“It’s not like I only do wholesome things — my character literally gets gutted by Ghostface in ‘Scream’ but my dream is to try and be a Disney princess someday,” Grace added.
On Tuesday, Grace clarified on Instagram that “The two quotes being used right now in these titles are unrelated,” referring to her comments about wanting to play a Disney princess role.
“I’m not uncomfortable doing nude scenes/hypersexual roles simply because ‘I want to be a Disney princess,’ it’s just because of my own personal comfortability I have with that sort of thing right now at this point in my life!” Grace added.
Grace is not alone in setting boundaries around intimate scenes in Hollywood. Entertainment critic Christian Toto suggested that Grace’s earlier appearances on family-friendly shows may have influenced her decision.
“Mckenna got her showbiz start on family-friendly shows like ‘Crash & Bernstein.’ Perhaps some of those lessons have stuck,” Toto, host of “The Hollywood in Toto Podcast,” told Fox News Digital.
“Or, she’s seen former child stars go the hyper-sexual route and wants no part of it. Either way, her instincts here are solid, and she may just carve a healthy lane for her Hollywood career moving forward,” he added.
Actress Amy Adams previously recalled turning down a sexually explicit comedy sketch after portraying Giselle in Disney’s 2007 film “Enchanted.” Speaking on “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” Adams said she declined a graphic “Saturday Night Live” musical sketch proposed by Andy Samberg because she was mindful of the film’s young audience.
“I was so keenly aware of all the young girls that were watching ‘Enchanted,’” Adams said. “And I didn’t want to be the princess singing about that particular act, you know?”
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Other actors have also established boundaries around intimate scenes. “You” star Penn Badgley discussed his request to reduce intimate scenes on his “Podcrushed” podcast in 2023, citing his marriage as a factor in the decision.
Veteran actor Neal McDonough has also spoken publicly about his longstanding refusal to participate in sex scenes or kiss other actresses on screen, citing his Catholic faith and respect for his wife.
Meanwhile, Angel Studios announced “The Angel Promise,” a set of content standards that the Utah-based studio says will prohibit on-screen sex, nudity and gratuitous profanity in its original releases.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Angel Studios co-founder and chief content officer Jeff Harmon argued that Hollywood has increasingly moved away from the values of family audiences.
“I think Hollywood generally kind of lives in a bubble,” Harmon said. “These are excellent craftsmen. They’re the best storytellers in the world. Hollywood has built the best storytelling infrastructure in the world.”
“But at the same time, they’ve kind of drifted more and more away from the values-based audience that they used to serve,” Harmon said. “And with that, in our view, as brothers and as fathers, as a father, Hollywood hasn’t been giving me consistently what I need. Once in a while, you get a good one, but you have to sift through all these things to find your good movies and your good stories.”
Harmon said that the studio’s pledge guarantees families will never have to worry about encountering graphic material, reflecting what he described as an audience-first model that aims to step out of the “Hollywood bubble” and into “middle America’s shoes.”
Fox News Digital’s Rachel del Guidice contributed to this report.