What You’ve Always Wanted: Emma Thompson, Greg Wise and Mark Rylance, Naked, With Fish

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This amalgam — Celebrities. British. Nude. Fish. — may sound somewhat familiar to you. Today, some new celebrities posed nude with fish. And in the past, some celebrities also posed nude with fish. Gillian Anderson, for example: formerly nude with fish. For, British celebrities posing nude with fish is a form of activism that seemingly knows no bounds.

There is a reason for these celebrities, who are British, and nude, to appear with fish, who are fish. The reason is Fishlove. Fishlove was established in 2009 by actress Greta Scacchi and sushi restaurant co-owner Nicholas Röhl to “to raise awareness of the unsustainable fishing practices that are destroying the the earth’s marine ecosystem.” And, honestly, little can compare in drawing attention to an issue than a naked celebrity posing next to said issue…especially if said issue is something as alien yet everyday as… fish. (Once you’ve marveled at the juxtaposition, the website has legitimately helpful tips on avoiding the perpetuation of overfishing).

Revered theatre actor (and recent Oscar winner) Mark Rylance was among the fish-cuddling celebrities, and gave a description whose language befits his career in weighty dramatic roles:

I felt I was holding a very old being. Our skins were very different, mine smooth and soft, hers, like sandpaper, yet somehow similar as well… Fish are a mystery to me. They are like creatures from dreams. They are evolution.

But he’s not all poetics when it comes to speaking of fish, nudity, and the merging of the two. “They are also limited and I believe we must create great wildlife parks in the oceans where no human pursues the fish in order to sustain their livelihood and our own,” he says. Meanwhile, Emma Thompson and her husband Greg Wise — who posed together with two fish — emphasized that they participated because “if we don’t end the overfishing and pollution of the ocean, all these beautiful creatures are threatened.”

Here are some of the images (Mark Rylance’s, Emma Thompson/Greg Wise’s, and Miriam Margoyles’), taken by Jillian Edelstein, all of which can be purchased in poster form (!) on Fishlove:

Mark Rylance; Img. credit: Jillian Edelstein, Fishlove

Emma Thompson and Greg Wise; Img. credit: Jillian Edelstein, Fishlove

Miriam Margoyles; Img. credit: Jillian Edelstein, Fishlove