Do you remember the cult film Walkabout? You may remember Jenny Agutter as one of the stars of this great film. This film, often considered one of the best British films ever made, included many memorable as well as many controversial scenes. One of them was the nude scene featuring Jenny Agutter.
Jenny Agutter has had an incredible life and career. As she approaches her seventies, she’s now been making some revelationary comments about her scenes in Walkabout – which she performed when she was still young.
But how did Jenny Agutter get her start? How did she eventually join the cast of Walkabout? Her life’s journey is fascinating and there’s so much we can learn from it and we can also now finally address the controversy with her nude scene in Walkabout.
Join FactsVerse to learn about how Jenny Agutter finally addresses her nude scene in Walkabout…
JENNY AGUTTER’S EARLY LIFE AND CAREER
Jennifer Ann Agutter was born on December 20, 1952, in Taunton, Somerset, England. Her father Derek was an entertainment officer in the British Navy. As a result, she grew up with a love of performing and dreamt of one day becoming an actress herself.
She grew up in multiple countries: living in England, Singapore, Cyprus, and Malaya – present day Malaysia. This rich upbringing made her curious about the world and also made her comfortable with traveling to far-flung lands, something she’d have to do for one of her most famous roles.
She began studying ballet as a young lady and also wanted to study acting. It wasn’t long until her career took off as she was cast in the 1964 East of Sudan. In this film, she played the young child Asua – who was integral to the films plot. Though she starred alongside great British actors such as Anthony Quayle, Sylvia Sims, and Derek Fowlds – she still managed to hold her own and got a lot of attention from audiences and critics alike.
Her career was uphill after that single film. She appeared and regularly received offers to appear in films and television shows.
Let’s look back at her dynamic career…
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JENNY AGUTTER’S CAREER
Following her role in East of Sudan, Jenny Agutter was cast in the TV series Alexander Graham Bell – a biopic of the late Scottish inventor. She played Grace Hubbard in 3 episodes. The following year, in 1966, she appeared in 2 episodes of the show The Magical World of Disney.
For most of the 1960s, her career was mostly in television with the odd film here and there – such as her uncredited role in A Man Could Get Killed and Gates to Paradise. Her TV credits during this decade including roles in shows such as Boy Meets Girl, The Newcomers, and The Railway Children.
It was also during this decade that she began filming for Walkabout. This was a film directed by a British director, Nicholas Roeg – but was filmed in the Australian outback. However, the film wasn’t released till 1971 even though it was filmed in 1969 when Jenny was 16. But – we’ll get to the film later.
Let’s fast forward to after Walkabout was released. Jenny Agutter’s career only went from strength to strength yet again after this major film. She was young but she was already a big star. The offers came pouring in and one can imagine that they were more than she could handle!
In the 1970s, she continued to work mostly in television with the occasional film role. Her TV credits included work in shows and TV movies such as Shelley – in which she played Mary Shelley – The Snow Goose, A War of Children, Thriller, Shadows, The ITV Play, The Man in the Iron Mask, and The Six Million Dollar Man.
Her film credits during this decade included work in Logan’s Run, The Eagle Has Landed, Equus, China 9 Liberty 37, The Riddle of Sands, and Dominique.
The 80s were another great decade for her and this was the decade where she made the other great film that defined her career – this time as an adult.
The film was An American Werewolf in London written and directed by John Landis. She played Nurse Alex Price. This became one of the roles that she was best remembered for and her performance in the film was lauded. So was, the sexy shower scene that she was featured in and this reminded fans of her nude scene in Walkabout that happened a decade prior.
Her career continued to shine throughout the 80s and 90s and she continued to focus mainly on TV work. In the 2010s and 2020s, she’s began to focus more on film work once again. Her notable films over the past decade have included The Avengers, Outside Bet, Queen of the Desert, Tin, Sometimes Always Never, and Railway Children.
Most notably, she’s also got a regular role in the popular British TV series Call the Midwife. She’s now approaching her 70s but she’s showing no signs of slowing down. We can expect more films, TV movies, and TV shows to feature Jenny Agutter.
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WALKABOUT
Now let’s look at Walkabout – one of Jenny Agutter’s most famous films, one of her most controversial ones, and one that she’s finally talking about – with one particular scene being the topic of discussion.
Jenny Agutter finally addresses her nude scene in Walkabout. She was cast in 1968 when she hadn’t quite turned 16. However, shooting began in 1969 when she was already 16 and she was able to appear nude in one scene in the film at the time. The film was then released in 1971 when she was 19.
The nude scene itself wasn’t exploitative according to her. It involved her character swimming nude and it was considered to be exploring innocence within the context of the film. However, unfortunately, people have exploited that particular nude scene and this has naturally, upset Jenny Agutter. One wonders if she’d have done such a scene if she could predict that decades from now, people would have such an immature and crass attitude toward it.
She, however, wasn’t completely put-off by doing such scenes. As mentioned earlier, she did a sexy shower scene in An American Werewolf in London. She also wore rather revealing clothing in her film Logan’s Run – which also became one of her most famous films.
These 3 films are all films where she showed off her body and unfortunately it seems that so many people only focus on that aspect of the films. But these are indeed 3 of her best performances and they are 3 of many great performances that Jenny Agutter has given in both film and television for almost 60 years!
She’s truly one of our greatest actresses and we can only expect greater things from her in the future. While many newer fans today might know Walkabout, An American Werewolf In London, and Logan’s Run for the wrong reasons – one hopes that many more will discover these great films for their great storytelling and her performances in them.
So what’s the future have in stake for Jenny Agutter? And what has her life been like behind the camera? What have been the ups and downs in both her life and her career?
JENNY AGUTTER’S LIFE AND LEGACY
Jenny Agutter is recognized as one of the UK’s finest actors. It’s why she’s had a consistent career from the age of 12 to 69! And we can only expect this to continue for as long as she lives. Once again, one wonders how many offers come her way. While she gives us many great performances, we wonder how many we are missing out on because she simply can’t say ‘yes’ to every offer!
Apart from her work in film and television, she’s also had a short career in the theater. She began her stage career in the 1970s and appeared in plays at the National Theatre in England. She also toured in plays with the Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared in plays such as Arden of Faversham, King Lear, and Lear.
She currently is a patron of a charity called the Shakespeare Schools Festival. This charity raises funds so that British children can learn Shakespeare at different schools. She’s also had experience in audio drama and has voiced roles in The Bride of Peladon and The Minister of Chance.
She also was in the podcast drama series Calais 2037.
She married Johan Tham in 1990 and they have one child together.
She regularly gives interviews and is happy to discuss her career. While some films don’t do as well as others, it’s clear that Jenny Agutter has had arguably one of the best careers of any actress of her generation. Her films and TV works are among the finest produced in the UK and her work is appreciated by fans both old and new. What sets her apart from other actresses of her generation is that she continues to do interesting work.
While we might know her more for Walkabout, An American Werewolf in London, and Logan’s Run today – perhaps we’ll remember her more recent work more fondly within another decade or so. The fact that she has also expanded to different mediums such as podcast dramas shows that she’s still just as passionate about her career as she’s ever been.
We can only wish her well for the future.
So, now let’s hear from you:
Are you a fan of Jenny Agutter? Did you know about the discomfort she had doing the nude scene in Walkabout?
In fact, here’s what we want to know from you:
Do you think that in the current climate, we are going to be less likely to see nudity in feature films?
Or are actors and actresses today actually more comfortable with such scenes?
