Jameela Jamil ‘wanted to be shot like a man’ for Playboy photoshoot

‘I felt extremely free,’ Jamil says

(Getty Images for The Recording A)

Jameela Jamil has said she wanted to be “shot like a man” for her Playboy magazine photoshoot, saying the experience made her feel “extremely free”.

This month, Playboy magazine is releasing its Spring 2020 “Speech Issue”, which the publication says “boasts a remarkable collection of essential voices”.

Following the announcement of the new issue, it was revealed that Jamil had taken on the role of guest editor for the quarterly magazine, in partnership with her I Weigh movement.

As part of her involvement in the issue, The Good Place actor took part in an interview and photo shoot, which captures her posing in oversized suit ensembles.

Jamil stated on Twitter that she specifically wanted to be photographed as a man would be for the shoot, with measures including ensuring none of the images were retouched and she wore comfortable clothing.

“From my @Playboy shoot, I wanted to be shot like a man,” the 34-year-old wrote on the social media platform.

“No retouching, hi res, loose, comfortable clothes and completely unsexualised. I felt extremely free.”

Playboy shared a video from the photo shoot on Instagram, in which Jamil said: “Previously I’d written Playboy off as a brand that I would necessarily be affiliated with.”

However, she praised the publication for taking its “giant platform and use it to start important conversations”.

“I also believe in progress not perfection,” Jamil added.

The Playboy magazine was first launched in 1953 and became widely known for publishing semi-nude and nude images of female models.

In 2015, it was announced that from March 2016 the publication would no longer publish nude pictures.

However, a year later the company backtracked on this decision.

At the time, Hugh Hefner’s son Cooper Hefner stated that the way in which the magazine previously portrayed nudity “was dated”.

“But nudity was never the problem, because nudity isn’t a problem,” he said.

In September 2018, it was announced that from the beginning of 2019, the magazine would publish on a quarterly basis.

Earlier this year, Jamil came out as queer after receiving criticism for being cast in a television show about voguing.

The actor wrote in a statement on Twitter that she kept her identity “low” because she was “scared of the pain of being accused of performative bandwagon jumping, over something that caused me a lot of confusion, fear and turmoil when I was a kid”.

Shortly afterwards, Jamil released a statement on Twitter outlining that the online bullying she had faced in recent weeks with regards to her mental and physical health had “triggered” her “to a point of near death”.

“If you live in pain and have to survive a lot, just to still be here, it’s agonising to have people tell you that you made it up,” she said.

Jamil has previously spoken publicly about suffering from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (a rare hyper-mobility condition), eating disorders, labyrinthitis (an inner ear disorder that causes dizziness, nausea and hearing loss) and having two cancer scares.