Dakota Johnson, in an interview with Amy Poehler, shared her experiences filming intimate scenes. She revealed that while she's always 'psyched' for sex, the actual filming process isn't inherently sexy. This is where the role of intimacy coordinators becomes crucial.
Johnson highlighted her recent experience working with an intimacy coordinator for the first time, describing it as a positive and helpful experience, contrasting it with her previous experiences where filming sex scenes lacked a sense of comfort and safety.
Johnson's approach to portraying intimate scenes depends heavily on character development. She considers factors like the character's personality, social standing, and emotional state, tailoring her performance accordingly.
Johnson attributes her comfort level with portraying intimacy on screen to her mother, Melanie Griffith, who raised her with a positive body image and open conversations about sex.
The article concludes with a call for more actors to embrace intimacy coordinators to ensure safe and comfortable filming practices.
Dakota Johnson may not know who Alix Earle is, but she sure does know how to shoot a sex scene. During an appearance on Good Hang with Amy Poehler, the actress opened up about how she goes about filming steamy sequences — and, unsurprisingly, they’re not exactly sexy.
When Poehler asked how Johnson prepares to have fake sex at work, the actress joked, “I don’t have to. I’m, like, always psyched up for sex.” The two shared a laugh before Johnson got serious. “I recently did a movie a few months ago, and we had an intimacy coordinator on set and it was the first time I’ve ever worked with one. And she was really great. It was so cool. because I’m so used to just you know, like… It’s a sex scene. It’s not sexy, it doesn’t feel good.” I bet!
How Johnson goes about performing in intimate scenes is different for every role. “First, it depends on who the character is and who the character’s supposed to be to the audience,” she said. “Is she like a super idolized hot girl? Is she a housewife? Is she lonely? Is she scared? Is she conservative? So that’s obviously character work.”
Poehler then compared actors who’ve done sex scenes to astronauts, because “so few people have done it.” Johnson added that a lot of her comfortability in filming these scenes comes from what her mom, actress Melanie Griffith, has taught her. “My mom raised me to be really proud of my body and love my body… She also talked to me about sex and how precious and important it is,” she said. “So I guess in my work, it’s something that I feel brave with and that I feel, when it’s used the right way in a story, it’s important.”
Well, there you go: Another reminder that intimacy coordinators rock. Maybe someone should get the word out to other actors…
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