Emma Stone felt ‘no shame’ filming raunchy scenes in ‘Poor Things’.
The actor takes on the lead role in Yorgos Lanthimos’ surreal new movie and the filmmaker was grateful for the effort she put into her alter ego Bella Baxter’s intimate sequences in the adaptation of Alasdair Grey’s novel, reported ‘aceshowbiz.com’.
“It’s a shame that Emma couldn’t be here to speak more about it because it’ll all be coming from me. First of all, sex is an intrinsic part of the novel itself, her freedom about everything, including sexuality,” Yorgos said at the Venice Film Festival, where ‘Poor Things’ premiered with none of the cast in attendance due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.
The 49-year-old director continued: “Secondly, it was very important for me to not make a film that would be prudish because that would be like completely betraying the main character. We had to be confident that Emma had no shame about her body, nudity and engaging in those scenes and she understood that right away.”
Yorgos has worked with Emma on projects such as ‘The Favourite’, which meant they didn’t have to spend too long having to discuss the sex scenes.
“The great thing about me and Emma is that we have made four films together. There’s a shorthand and we can communicate without having to explain or talk too much about things. As soon as I started saying something about sex, she’d say, ‘Yes’. Of course, it’s Bella. We will do what we need to do,” he said.
The director hired Elle McAlpine as an intimacy coordinator on the film and praised her positive influence on the picture.
Lanthimos said: “At the beginning, this profession felt a little threatening to most filmmakers, but I think it’s like everything. If you’re with a good person, it’s great and you realise you actually need them.”