Olivia Colman has shared a cheeky behind-the-scenes prank she pulled on her The Favourite co-star Emma Stone while they were shooting an intimate scene.
In the 2018 period drama, Colman took on the role of Queen Anne, while Stone played Abigail, a chambermaid who rises through the ranks at court.
The Favourite proved to be a huge awards success for Colman, earning her major honours including the Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Actress. But one of the most memorable stories to come out of the film isn’t about trophies — it’s about a sponge used in the most unexpected way on set.
Colman’s sense of humour is well known, and she’s never pretended to be particularly restrained in interviews. While appearing on The Graham Norton Show around the time the film was released, she explained how she decided to add a mischievous twist to a scene she was filming with Stone.
Before the scene was shot, Colman said she hurried to the make-up department to ask if there was a spare sponge she could borrow.
In the moment they were filming, Stone’s character is required to touch Colman’s character intimately — something Colman described to Norton and the other guests in fairly blunt terms.
Stone, understandably, was nervous about the choreography and worried about accidentally doing something wrong during the take. To make things a bit easier (and, as it turned out, much more surprising), Colman placed a sponge between her legs as a barrier.
What Stone didn’t realise was that the sponge wasn’t dry.
“Her face was a picture,” Colman said. “She was going up my leg and she went ‘urgh!'”
Colman later revisited the story in an interview with Vogue, explaining that she’d deliberately set the gag up to catch Stone off guard during the take.
“I put a damp sponge between my legs [during an intimate scene], because I thought it would be funny for Emma to find,” The Lost Daughter actress shared. “You can see in her face the sudden look of horror.”
It’s safe to say Stone didn’t see that coming.
Colman has since spoken more seriously about how uncomfortable she can feel filming sex scenes, despite being willing to joke about awkward moments after the fact.
The actor, who rose to wider fame in Peep Show, has said certain scenes can leave her feeling like she’s crossing a line in her personal life. Colman has been married to Ed Sinclair since 2001.
Speaking on Good Hang with Amy Poehler, the 52-year-old shared last 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 added: “Even when they go, ‘You can wear your jeans,’ or a cushion between you. I don’t want to do that.”