• John Lithgow sent a naked photo of himself to the director of his new movie.
• He wanted to show her he'd done nude scenes in the past, which were required for the film.
• Lithgow plays the title character in "Jimpa," about a gay man, his daughter, and his nonbinary grandchild.

John Lithgow has no problem with nudity in his film work. When he signed on for his latest movie, "Jimpa," he made that clear immediately by sending the director a naked photo of himself.

Lithgow spoke to Business Insider about "Jimpa" at its Sundance Film Festival red carpet premiere, held Thursday in Park City, Utah. In the movie, Lithgow plays the titular character Jim, an out-and-proud gay man living in Amsterdam who's visited by his daughter Hannah (Olivia Colman) and nonbinary grandchild Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde).

In the film, Lithgow has two full-frontal scenes as his character is vivacious and sexually promiscuous. The actor recalled that he and Australian director Sophie Hyde had an hour-and-a-half Zoom call to discuss the project, and during that conversation, Hyde brought up that the role would require nudity. Lithgow said he wasn't phased because he'd done it before.

"As soon as she brought it up, I said, I have appeared nude on TV, on film, and onstage five times, and every time, I've won a major award," he joked on the carpet.

During the conversation with Hyde, Lithgow said he realized he had a photo handy of himself nude from the play "The Changing Room," which debuted in 1973 on Broadway. The entire production takes place in the men's changing room before, during, and after a game — so suffice to say, realistic nudity was involved as Lithgow played a rugby player.

"I thought, well, you better know what you're dealing with here. So I showed her the picture on Zoom, and then I quickly zapped it to her by text, and then I thought, 'What have I done?'" Lithgow told BI.

Despite the momentary panic, Lithgow had no regrets. "It was all about the work," he said.

"Jimpa," a heartfelt dramedy inspired by Hyde's own life as the daughter of a gay man and the parent of a trans nonbinary teen, centers on Jim's relationships with family. The film is a thoughtful and moving look at parenting, gender, and sexuality. It was immediately clear to Lithgow that he needed to be part of it.

"I knew right away this was going to be a great adventure, and it was going to be very, very good," he told BI.