Scout Willis: The naked truth is I’m too sensitive to do my parents’ job

Bruce Willis and Demi Moore’s artist daughter says she’s too “sensitive” to follow in her famous parents’ footsteps despite staging a topless protest on the streets of New York.

Ahead of her first photography show in London, Scout Willis, 23, said she never wanted a career in acting because she prefers the control she has as an artist.

She said: “God bless them but I would never want to be an actress – I’m too sensitive. They take a beating and it’s about your personal life as well as your art. I like to be in control of what I’m making. I’ve seen my parents put everything into a role and then somewhere along the line it becomes about other peoples’ decisions.”

Ms Willis sparked international debate last June when her Instagram account was suspended after she posted a photograph of a self-designed jumper featuring two topless women.

She walked around New York while topless to protest the site’s no-nudity clauses and highlight gender inequality using the hashtag #FreeTheNipple.

Her London exhibit features eight Polaroid-style photographs exploring youthful sexuality, and includes nude self portraits.

She explained: “I wouldn’t use the word ‘graphic’ but I understand why people would. I’ve always used bodies in my work but I distort it through lots of different filters.”

Ms Willis has been in the spotlight since before she was born when her mother posed nude for an infamous Vanity Fair cover while seven months’ pregnant.

“My mum pushed a big boundary and that was so shocking to people. The article was actually not complimentary but all that people remember is that iconic cover shot.

“In this exhibition it’s me in all of them, all of the pieces. My senior thesis was a series I did about people’s relative comfort and discomfort with their bodies so there were a lot of nudes. It wouldn’t be fair to ask other people to do that if I wasn’t comfortable doing it too.

“When my Instagram account was deleted I was so sad because this was my photo journal of my life and I had no way to access anymore. But these physical photos in the exhibition are something that I can keep so I appreciate that.”

The photos will be displayed as part of an exhibition called 8x8 which features eight works from eight different artists including The Kills singer Alison Mosshart.

The show is to launch the Impossible Project’s Instant Lab which develops digital images into analog photographs using instant Polaroid-style film.

The free exhibition will be open to the public from tomorrow (Friday Feb 20) to Sunday (Feb 22) at the Hoxton Gallery in Shoreditch.

@littlewondering