Sex scenes can’t be easy to film even in the best situations where your already extremely comfortable with someone, but when your thrown into it without knowing the other actor or having to perform with their real-life other half watching, things can get awkward, and fast. Here are 5 celebrities who know all too well what it’s like to film a super awkward sex scene which was hard for them to go through but necessary for the project at hand. From director husbands who are watching the action to stripping off with a perfect stranger, it’s easy to see how things felt a little weird to those about to take part in a hard sex scene.
Clemence Poesy
Stripping off with Eddie Redmayne in drama ‘Birdsong’ was difficult for Clemence:”I usually try to get rid of them (sex scenes) but they were so integral to the story here. You just worry about how to make them good. Eddie and I spent three days in a small room talking about our failed relationships. We had such little time and, because you shoot so quickly, you have to trust the person in front of you. Talking so openly was like stripping naked in front of each other and letting go of all the protections and inhibitions we had. The scenes are awkward, though. There’s always that moment you think, ‘When is someone going to shout ‘cut’?”
Natalie Portman
Natalie, who filmed a lesbian scene with Mila Kunis for ‘Black Swan’ says that sex scenes are always hard and anyone who says otherwise is lying: “It’s super awkward. Anyone who tells you otherwise is not being honest. or they’re a little off.”
Kate Winslet
Kate recalls how awkward it was to film the Titanic sex scene with Leonardo DiCaprio while her then husband Sam Mendes directed:”I just kept saying, ‘This is too… weird.’ And Leo was like, ‘Oh, get over it.’ And I’m going, ‘Yeah, a little reminder: You’re my best friend. He’s my husband. This is a bit weird.’I hadn’t realised how much my chemistry with him since Titanic would still stick. It’s great to discover we can just slip right into it, like muscle memory.”
Kate Beckinsale
Colin Farrell says it was hard to film the ‘Total Recall’ sex scene with Kate Beckinsale asĀ her husband was behind the camera:”I’ve done it with somebody else in front of my husband before so I think it was actually much more awkward for Colin. He was the one who was like, ‘Are we done? Are we good? I think it’s easier for a woman as we don’t have any moveable parts. You can just sort of blank out and nobody can really tell what you’re thinking. I think it’s much harder for boys maybe – or not.”
Justin Timberlake
For the film ‘Friends With Benefits’ Justin had to do a sex scene with Mila Kunis which was awkward:”I’d be lying if I said filming the sex scenes wasn’t completely awkward … The producers and I agreed we would shoot a big chunk of the movie before we got down to the sex scenes, which was a good idea. That allowed Mila and me time to get comfortable. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go all out for this.”