Sydney Sweeney & Brandon Sklenar's Housemaid Sex Scenes Were Stunt-Like
“By the end of shooting you're just yelling, you know, ‘Have an orgasm!’”
For fans of Frieda McFadden’s novel, it’s no surprise that The Housemaid movie included some steamy moments. But according to the director, Paul Feig, it was a little “uncomfortable” for him to shoot the sex scenes between Sydney Sweeney and Brandon Sklenar — until the film’s intimacy coordinator, Lizzy Talbot, shared some words of wisdom.
“Well, I mean directing a love scene, you know, a sex scene if you will, is always uncomfortable for me. But we had a great intimacy coordinator,” Feig told Cinema Blend in an interview published Dec. 19. “So that was challenging more than anything. But they were so great. I mean, the two actors who did it — no spoilers — were just so comfortable with it, and they were cool. I was the old hung up guy in the room. But by the end of shooting you're just yelling, you know, ‘Have an orgasm!’”
Talbot played a major role in helping Feig capture the intimate moments. “Well, Lizzy, the intimacy coordinator, said, ‘Face these like they're stunt scenes.’ And I go, ‘Oh, OK, that's the key.’”
Feig also spoke to The Times on Dec. 18 about his discomfort with intimate scenes. “There’s nobody more uncomfortable with it than this guy,” he told the outlet, while pointing at himself. “But Syd and Brandon are so body positive that they thought it was hilarious that I was so uncomfortable. She’s very proud of how she looks, and you should be.”
He added, “There are so many people I’ve encountered where you’re fighting against their insecurity. She would say, ‘I love women’s bodies,’ and that’s so healthy.”
Feig also discussed the benefits of hiring an intimacy coordinator, calling the career “the greatest thing that’s happened in Hollywood.” He added, “When you have a 63-year-old man amongst all these beautiful young people, you don’t want to be the pervy porn producer, telling people to do stuff.”
Previously, Sweeney has opened up about filming nude scenes. In a June interview with W, the Euphoria actor explained that she doesn’t feel “nervous” taking on those scenes. “I think that the female body is a very powerful thing. And I’m telling my character’s story, so I owe it to them to tell it well and to do what needs to be done,” she said.
