Oscar-Winning Costume Designer Claims Male Actors Often Go Commando for Fittings: ‘It’s Astonishing’

Jenny Beavan, an Academy Award winning costume designer, revealed a little secret of her job: Male actors often ditch their underwear for costume fittings.

Beavan, 74, explained in an interview with The Daily Telegraph, “They have to take all their clothes off. It’s astonishing the number of male actors who don’t wear underwear.”

She continued, “I’ve had to go out and buy them pants – not Calvin Klein or anything like that; I usually get them from [British retailer] Marks – otherwise they try to hide themselves behind a chair looking marginally awkward.”

“I think, ‘For God’s sake, if I was going to a fitting and trying on second-hand clothes I’d wear some pants.’”

While Beavan did not name specific actors, she has worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood (no pun intended) including Tom Hardy and Nicholas Hoult on the 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road. She also dressed Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law for 2009’s Sherlock Holmes and Colin Firth and Guy Pearce for their 2010 film, The King’s Speech, to name a few.

Apart from the nude male celebrities, Beavan revealed that stars often spill their secrets during costume fittings.

“Actors confide in me a lot. Not just the women but the men too. I’ve heard some pretty extraordinary things,” she told The Daily Telegraph. “They tell me everything. I think it’s because I’m not very frightening. I’m short and mumsy.”