30 Celebs on What It’s Really Like to Film a Sex Scene

Intimacy coordinators have been the source of comfort and complaint for many A-list actors in recent years, but Zendaya seems very in favor of them. Last year, she told The Hollywood Reporter “We had an intimacy coordinator, which was fantastic and very helpful, because it was important that we felt safe....I spoke with my colleagues so that we could find a way to feel at ease. We played tennis together, we went out together, we rehearsed together. We got to bond and feel good with each other.”

On filming the same-sex scenes in The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Chloe said, “It was really empowering, given that Desi [Desiree Akhavan, the director] didn’t micromanage me. And I’ve been doing sex scenes in moves since I was 16, all of which have been under male directors. And this was the first time [a director] didn’t have to write down every single moment she needed and tell me she needed this exact face or this orgasm. She literally made herself and the entire crew scarce, and it was us two and our camera op.”

Samira once said about her scene in OITNB, “It was my first sex scene and my first nude scene that I’d done, and I think I was worried about what my parents were going to think and all that kind of thing. Me and my scene partner, we just had a great time, and it wasn’t difficult. It definitely wasn’t sexy. It felt very mechanical.”

“I hate it! Listen, make no mistake, I just get on it. I just go in and say, ‘Oh f-ck, let’s do it,’ and boom,” Kate once said. “If you complain about it or procrastinate, it’s not going to go away. Its a profoundly bizarre thing to do. As actors, you talk about it all the time. You can literally be tangled in sheets, and you turn to the other actor and say, ‘What the f-ck are we doing?’ ‘Dear Mum, at work today, I had so-and-so’s left nut sack pressed against my cheek.’ It’s sort of unethical if you think about it in those terms.”

On filming the sex scenes for Greenberg with Ben Stiller, Greta once said, “It was written in the script. I knew that there would be awkward sex scenes, but they were so wonderfully awkward. They were so specifically awkward....Ben is a great actor and such a gentleman and made sure that everything was okay with me.”

Speaking about seeing Will act in sex scenes, Jada said, “After 20 years...it’s kind of a nice voyeuristic way to see your man, but I am kind of weird in that way.”

And then Will joined in: “She a little freaky like that.”

Before Chrissy’s character Kate in This Is Us ever got a sex scene, she said, “When are they going to have sex, guys? Onscreen. I want it onscreen—I guess it’ll offend people still. But fat people do have sex, for the record.”

Talking about his scene with Kristen Wiig in Bridesmaids, Jon said, “I am not a small human being. I weigh at least 200 pounds and I’m 6-foot-2. And Wiig is a twig; she’s a skinny little thing. It’s weird and uncomfortable at first, but then all the awkwardness melts away and you think, All right, we’re doing this, so let’s have fun with it. You know what I mean? You’re in that moment and its happening and it’s not going to get any better, so you might as well enjoy it.”

On the sex scene in Gone Girl, she said she rehearsed “for two hours, alone, on an empty soundstage—just Neil and myself.” She added, “That is when it feels highly inappropriate. You’re alone with a man who’s not your husband who also has a husband...he’s in his underwear, you’re in your underwear and you’re sort of dry humping on a bed.”

Speaking about the sex scene in Kill Your Darlings, he said, “I was talked through it by the director. He would be telling me what I would be feeling in each take. Basically, gay sex, especially for the first time, is really f-cking painful. And he said that he had never seen that portrayed accurately on film before. He wanted it to look like an authentic loss of virginity.”

Speaking about her sex scene in (re)Assignment, Michelle said, “The most nerve-racking was the sex scene, because we [the director and I] have different ideas of sensuality. I’m obviously more feminine in my approach to things.”

On The Beguiled sex scene she filmed with Colin Farrell, she said, “I am on the floor and my clothes are being ripped. I don’t like it, I don’t like it. To be honest, I’m like, ‘Let’s get this over with as fast as possible.’ At least Sofia’s like, ‘We’re going to get this done quick, we’re just gonna shoot it here, we’ll do three takes, be done.”

Charlie once told Elle, “I try to be sensitive to the fact that we’re doing something intimate but also keep a clear boundary. Because I’m in a very committed relationship, and I’m also cognizant that it’s not my girlfriend’s favorite part of my job. It’s a delicate balance to strike—to be emotionally open enough to have an experience that feels honest between two people but also maintain that it’s just for the film. It’s not my favorite thing to do. I’m also a germaphobe. Yeah. I’ve been profoundly germaphobic since I was a young child. I don’t want to kiss anyone but my girlfriend for my whole life.”

On his naked scenes in Wolf of Wall Street, Leo said, “It was all me, pal. All the flopping around, all the everything was all me.”