Film Clip: 'Fifty Shades of Grey' 0:58
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Watch a film clip from Fifty Shades of Grey, starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan. Photo/Video: Universal Pictures
- WSJ Live
- 13 Feb 2015
- Entertainment
ON screen it looks so perfect but when it comes to movie sex even Hollywood stars need a trick or two up their sleeves, or down their shorts.
Sex clearly does sell, as audiences globally have fallen over themselves to see arguably Hollywood’s sexiest film of all time — Fifty Shades of Grey is now officially a box office phenomenon, raking in an estimated $US266 million ($340 million) worldwide on its first weekend.
However, star Jamie Dornan has revealed how the steamy action on screen was not so much hot for him and co-star Dakota Johnson — more hilarious!
“There were times where she is literally in extremely vulnerable positions and naked — and you needed humour to get you through those days,” says Dornan about how laughing helped get through the agony of filming the sex scenes.
Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan appear in a scene from the film. Picture: AP Source: AP
Despite rumours the two “hated” one another and the news this week that Dornan may not return for the final two instalments of the franchise, they shouldn’t feel bad about having cold feet in bed together.
Most celebs will tell you that love scenes are awkward and nerve-racking — as well as boring and about as sexy as damp long-johns. No wonder, like Dornan, today’s biggest names have developed their own special tricks and techniques to spice up their on-screen sex and get them through those naked nightmares.
Here 15 stars throw the covers back on movie sex scenes to reveal their juicy secrets and tricks of the trade.
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Dakota Johnson Discusses Favorite 'Fifty Shades' Sex Scenes
Dakota Johnson discusses her favorite sex scene in her film, "Fifty Shades of Grey."
LENA DUNHAM
Trick of the trade: Be the boss
AS the creator and star of the hit show Girls, Dunham (right) has the power to put an end to her troubles with sex scenes — not that she has yet.
“The sex scene thing is funny because I do a lot of sex scenes in the show and I’m usually nude for them because people get pretty naked to have sex,” she says. “So basically with those scenes I will be lying there being slammed by a naked body thinking, ‘I want out of this bed, I want out of this scene, I want out of this life, who did this to me?’
“And then I realise that I am my own boss, I have written it, I’m directing it and I’m the person holding myself in sexual slavery.”
Hugh Jackman. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images
Lena Dunham. Picture: AP Source: Supplied
HUGH JACKMAN
Trick of the trade: Have an understanding partner
WOMEN around the world would love to get their hands on Wolverine hunk Jackman and those that do for a movie scene often have his wife to contend with on set.
“Debs is often on set when we’re doing those awkward scenes but she’s cool with it,” says Jackman of his actress wife Deborra-Lee Furness. “Debs has been in about 30 movies herself and she’s been with more naked guys in showers in those movies than I’ve had hot dinners. So it helps she’s pretty used to all that.”
JOHNNY DEPP
Trick of the trade: Music
DEPP is well known for his bizarre on-set quirks, including having music played to him to suit his character and situation. And it seems he doesn’t even turn it off when he hops in the sack for those more intimate scenes.
“I spent about three hours in bed with him, and we’d only just met,” recalls Johnny’s From Hell (2001) co-star Sophia Myles. “He was sensitive, compassionate and charming but he always had his music on. He has a guy who does nothing but play specific tracks for him.”
Naomi Watts. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
Johnny Depp. Picture: Ian West Source: AAP
NAOMI WATTS
Trick of the trade: Fart machine
AUSSIE beauty Watts has found the perfect way to break the ice as well as wind during her on-screen romps. The 46-year-old actress has never been shy of doing the deed on film and even starred in a girl-on-girl scene in Mulholland Drive. But it was her romp with Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo against a tree in We Don’t Live Here Anymore (2004) that revealed her windy secret.
“We were up against the tree, completely naked, trying to act this scene in front off all the crew and cameras,” Ruffalo recalls. “And then Naomi, to ease the tension, had a fart machine going … You’re about to do a scene, and all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Prrpt, prrt-prrrpt, prrt-prrrpt’. Instant defuse.”
SALMA HAYEK
Trick of the trade: Don’t show the family
HAYEK found her first love scenes in Desperado (1995) almost impossible to get through because she kept thinking about her family seeing her nude. “I nearly got fired. I cried throughout the love scene. That’s why you never see long pieces of the scene, it’s little pieces cut together. I didn’t want to be naked … The whole time, I’m thinking of my father and my brother.”
Reese Witherspoon. Picture: James White Source: Corbis
Salma Hayek. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images
REESE WITHERSPOON
Trick of the trade: Warn your kids
THE Oscar-nominated actress was worried her Wild sex scenes might be too wild for her teen daughter. So the 38-year-old actress did what she felt was the right thing given Ava, 15, was so intent on watching the movie.
“I felt like I had to explain it to her,” Witherspoon says. “I said to her, ‘Hey, I gotta tell you something. OK, whoa! I’m naked in the movie. Just let me explain.’ … I had to be brave. I couldn’t just tell the parts I felt comfortable with because she’s always brave enough to tell me her school stories. I had to tell the parts that even I was scared to do … now she’s very proud of me.”
MILA KUNIS
Trick of the trade: Practise, practise, practise
FOR someone regarded as the sexiest woman in Hollywood, Kunis has a surprisingly large number of hang-ups about sex scenes. For steamy comedy Friends With Benefits (2011), Mila had to romp with co-star Justin Timberlake — something she was dreading.
“I am incredibly self-conscious in real life about every part of my body, let alone for the whole crew to see and then the whole world to see,” she says.
“The last person I cared about was Justin! But we got through it just by keeping it fun and through rehearsing. It is not like you walk on set and start tap dancing. Like ‘Ta-daa!’ and then you drop. It took four months to build up a comfortable enough level where we could do that.”
Emilia Clarke. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images
Mila Kunis. Picture: WireImage Source: Getty Images
EMILIA CLARKE
Trick of the trade: Don’t let your parents see
BRIT beauty Clarke has broken boundaries when it comes to sex scenes and baring all on the small screen.
The Game of Thrones star has acted out romps with both her male and female co-stars on the hit show, which just so happens include her parents among its most avid fans.
“That does make it a bit awkward,” Clarke says.
“I tend not to watch those episodes with my parents and I certainly never want to think they might watch those scenes when we’re filming them.
“You just have to go into another place and get through it without thinking about that stuff too much.”
THANDIE NEWTON
Trick of the trade: Sit down before you lie down
BRIT beauty Thandie Newton has revealed the secret to a good sex scene is a good sit down. The 42-year-old Crash actress insists she sailed through her shocking scenes with on-screen husband in gritty TV drama Rogue thanks to planning.
“The trick is that you cast people who are kind and responsible and sensitive,” Newton says. “Then you sit together with the director and find out what is expected so you don’t go doing any more or any less. Then you just go for it. It’s still awkward but it’s really not that bad.”
Ewan McGregor. Picture: Daily Telegraph Source: News Limited
Thandie Newton. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images
EWAN MCGREGOR
Trick of the trade: Don’t show your excitement — or lack of
WHEN it comes to getting your kit off on screen, McGregor is head and shoulders above the rest. From his explicit sex scenes with Kelly Macdonald in Trainspotting, to his full frontal in Velvet Goldmine and oral sex scene in Boy’s Don’t Cry, McGregor is happy to bare all.
“I’m never aware of the crew — you shouldn’t be. I could have a sound man lying under the bed and I wouldn’t notice him. My only concern when I’m doing a sex scene is that I don’t get my a---hole in shot, also that my penis doesn’t show when I’m supposed to be having sex — because that would be a bit of a giveaway, wouldn’t it?
“There have been moments where, ahem, things have happened down there but I just take a few moments. You know, the director says, ‘Let’s try that again’, and I say, ‘No, give me 10 seconds’.”
PATRICIA ARQUETTE
Trick of the trade: Keep your panties on
WHEN Arquette was called upon to romp naked for the film Human Nature she just couldn’t find the courage to show the world her most intimate parts.
“That’s when I came up with the idea for this pubic rug or hair piece, which was stitched on to my panties,” the Boyhood star says. “I think you can say it was just the job, although it did cause me problems when I was posing for publicity photos. The guys couldn’t take their eyes off it!”
Jessica Biel. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images
Patricia Arquette. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
JESSICA BIEL
Trick of the trade: Enjoy your action in the bedroom
AS one of Hollywood’s fittest and sexiest stars Biel knows how hard it can be shooting both action and love scenes. And given the choice she would take a love scene every time — just as long as it’s with the right person.
“If it’s a love scene with someone nice then, yes, I’d rather do that than an action scene every time,” says a very pregnant Mrs Justin Timberlake. “Love scenes are never easy and always awkward but they’re still a lot easier than action scenes.”
KATE WINSLET
Trick of the trade: Pretend it’s Leo
IT seems Brit beauty Winslet has never got over her Titanic tussle with Leonardo DiCaprio and why should she when the memory of that steamy moment is so handy for her other love scenes?
Winslet, who will appear in the Australian production The Dressmaker later this year, began pining for Leo when she needed a hunky guy for a love scene in Iris, and couldn’t find anyone she liked. So she shut her eyes and thought of Titanic.
“You couldn’t see his face so it didn’t really matter what he looked like,” Winslet says. “So I just made out it was me and Leo all over again. It really helps get through those scenes.”
Halle Berry. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images
Kate Winslet. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images
HALLE BERRY
Trick of the trade: Pretend it’s not you.
BERRY’S steamy clinch in Monster’s Ball, the film for which she won an Oscar, is said to be one of the sexiest in movie history — it even turns on the star herself.
Halle’s trick is to look at her more intimate scenes as if she has nothing to do with them, that way she gets to enjoy them with the rest of us.
“When I first watched the scene I thought, ‘Wow, look at her’, says the Hollywood beauty.
“I never really connect with myself in those scenes, and I think that’s how I am able to look at them.”
CHARLIZE THERON
Trick of the trade: Laughter
THERON got through her romantic scenes with Christina Ricci in Monster (2001) by laughing all the way to the Oscars.
“I’d love to see the out-takes from it because Christina and I laughed way too much,” says the South African stunner.
“We drove the sound guy bananas by giggling into his mike. It was the first time that I had ever kissed a woman in a film, and it was OK kissing Christina except for the dental implants I had to wear and which sometimes came loose. “But the laughing got us through it.”
Charlize Theron. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied
