Actress Olivia Colman has shared her feelings on filming intimate scenes and why they make her uncomfortable.
In a recent episode of the Good Hang with Amy Poehler podcast, Colman discussed her thoughts on such scenes after Benedict Cumberbatch, her co-star, inquired about what aspects of acting she finds daunting.
Colman revealed that engaging in any form of a sex scene makes her feel as if she is being unfaithful to her husband of 24 years, Ed Sinclair.
The couple has three children and will be celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary next year.
“Anything where I have to show any skin, I don’t like. Or pretending to have sex… I don’t like it. I feel like I’m being unfaithful,” she stated.
“Even when they go, ‘You can wear your jeans,’ or a cushion between you. I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to do that.”
Poehler commented: “The people that are good at it, I’ll watch them all day long, and they’re comfy. But the on-screen orgasm…”
Colman responded: “No, absolutely not… Thank God for intimacy coordinators.”
Colman also expressed her admiration for Sinclair, saying: “He’s my best friend and I fancy him, which is quite nice.
“It is our 25th wedding anniversary next year. We aren’t big fighters, which apparently isn’t very healthy.”
Colman and Cumberbatch are featured together in the upcoming film, The Roses, an adaptation of the 1989 film, The War of the Roses.
The Roses is a dark comedy revolving around a husband and wife whose seemingly ideal marriage deteriorates.
The film’s synopsis describes: “Life seems easy for picture-perfect couple Theo and Ivy: successful careers, great kids, an enviable sex life.
“But underneath the facade of the perfect family is a tinderbox of competition and resentments that’s ignited when Theo’s professional dreams come crashing down.”
In an interview with the BBC, Cumberbatch shared his ‘secret’ to maintaining a successful marriage.
He has been married to Sophie Hunter for a decade.
“Don’t be complacent and keep the conversation between you going rather than thinking one of you is always right,” he advised.
“It’s also important to be tolerant, understanding and never stop working at it.”
Meanwhile, Colman mentioned that she and Sinclair focus on ensuring they appreciate each other and consistently ‘being nice and checking in on each other’.
Colman also touched on a part of the movie she particularly relates to – mom guilt.
“From the moment you have a child, you’ll have guilt,” she expressed.
“I took my eldest on set with me when he was six weeks old and I thought it would be easy but regretted it and even while he was on set, I felt enormous guilt because it didn’t feel like the right environment for him to be in.”