12 Actors Who Feel Uncomfortable Filming Love Scenes

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We all know that being a Hollywood actor has its perks. These creative professionals make a ton of money, and often get to work with people they admire. The hours may be long, but most actors have months of down time in between shows and movies, so it’s a pretty even trade.

Sure, some actors have to do physically demanding work when filming movies and TV shows. Some hire stunt doubles, while others complete the stunts themselves. Acting often involves wearing elaborate costumes as well, and actors are willing to wear things that are extremely heavy or uncomfortable in order to bring more life to the world. Of course, there are some times when love scenes are required. Some actors have expressed that it’s just “part of the job,” but everyone isn’t so comfortable with it.

While most people think actors are just “whining” when they complain about doing love scenes, you’ve got to admit that these scenes can get pretty awkward. After all, there’s a crew of people in the room while actors try to have an intimate moment with each other—even if they just met. Love scenes can easily be a little scary, even for those who have been in the business for a while. Here are 12 actors who feel extremely uncomfortable filming love scenes.

12. Blake Lively

Blake Lively admits that sex scenes can be pretty awkward, especially when you have to shoot them on the first day of filming! When the new mom and wife of actor Ryan Reynolds worked with Ben Affleck in The Town, she had to film her love scene with Affleck right away. Lively also shared that even though actors look great on the red carpet, it’s all a “façade”, and that those in the business aren’t always super confident. Blake also says “I guess it was good to break the ice” in reference to the love scene. We can think of a few other ways to introduce yourself to someone, but when you’re an actor, sometimes there just isn’t a lot of time for pleasantries.

11. Jesse Metcalfe

Actor Jesse Metcalfe will likely always be known as Gabriella Solis’ pool boy love interest from Desperate Housewives. Like most men, he doesn’t mind getting close to beautiful women, but things definitely got a little awkward when Jesse needed some “time” once the director decided to reset the set. He noted that actors don’t often get aroused, but it does happen from time to time. After all, they are human. To make matters worse, Jesse stated that this uncomfortable moment occurred the first time he and Eva Longoria’s character were intimate. That’s got to be pretty embarrassing. But if you were a fan of Desperate Housewives, you know that Metcalfe eventually got over it.

10. Keira Knightley

The wife and mom is known for being versatile in the roles she plays. Knightley is usually a pretty fearless actress, but in A Dangerous Method, she admits that she needed a little courage in the form of booze to get her through the scenes. Keira says that she took a vodka shot or two to “calm her nerves” before filming.The drink of choice after the scenes was champagne, and she shares that vodka and champagne are a “good combination.” After all, Keira had to shoot sex scenes with Viggo Mortenson and Michael Fassbender, so she probably needed to be tipsy to keep from dying of embarrassment.

9. Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway calls taking her clothes off in front of complete strangers “revoltingly embarrassing.” She also states that her fear of being naked in public is why we rarely see her on the beach wearing a bikini. Hathaway tried to take more control in the situation by taking her robe off at the very last minute before her love scenes in the movie Love and Other Drugs. But each time she put the robe on and took it off again, she rubbed some of her body makeup off, which means she had to spend extra time in the makeup chair. So, eventually she learned to swallow her nerves. Hathaway says that “as with all things in life, the second you stop making it about you and you make it about everyone else, it just got, dare I say, fun.” Wise words indeed.

8. Shailene Woodley

Shailene Woodley not only has the awkward “pleasure” of shooting several love scenes, but her characters have “lost their virginity” on screen five times! However, Woodley still says that sex scenes are uncomfortable for her. When she was filming White Bird In a Blizzard, she said that it’s really awkward to “pretend to be intimate with someone that you’re not actually intimate with.” She also says that this awkwardness is probably what makes her “first time” scenes so believable. Shailene even says that she wishes she had some direction and great lighting during her first make-out sessions in real life, and says that real-life awkwardness is way more uncomfortable than feeling weird on set.

7. Natalie Portman

Most people who saw the movie Black Swan will always remember Natalie Portman’s sex scene with Mila Kunis. Portman thought that it would be a good idea for Kunis to play the role, since they were good friends and she hoped that would make filming the sex scene less weird. After filming, Portman said that it was “pretty awkward” and that it may have been more comfortable to film the scene with someone she didn’t know in real life. However, she did state that Mila helped her to feel a little more at ease, since the two were able to joke with each other in between takes. Natalie states that they were both nervous about it, but they “got over it together.”

6. Michael Fassbender

When Michael Fassbender was filming Jane Eyre, he says that he was extra careful about how he went about love scenes. He states the sex scenes can be “quite awkward” and that he doesn’t ever want his female co-stars to feel that he’s taking advantage of them. Fassbender says that he breaks the ice by trying to “make a fool of himself in one way or another.” Once he and his co-star are comfortable, he states that it’s best to just “go for it,” so that multiple takes aren’t necessary. What a gentleman! Fassbender tends to have a professional attitude toward sex scenes, since it’s not far-fetched to think that some guys would want to do multiple takes on purpose.

5. Ashton Kutcher

When Ashton Kutcher was filming No Strings Attached with Natalie Portman (who also filmed a sex scene with his wife Mila Kunis), he said that he got through the love scenes with lots of apologies. He says that he got the advice from Sir Laurence Olivier, who said to “apologize if you get aroused, and apologize if you don’t get aroused.” Kutcher also said that it feels weird shooting these types of scenes, because you don’t know what’s “OK” and what’s not, then you have to act like it’s perfectly normal to be simulating sex with someone you’re not actually in a relationship with. Kutcher also says that this helps you to see “how good of an actor you really are.”

4. Dakota Johnson

Dakota Johnson’s career really started to take off after she starred in Fifty Shades of Grey. But, she makes it clear that filming sex scenes is not “sensual or pleasurable.” Dakota also says that she was particularly uncomfortable during her sex scenes because her hands and legs were tied and she was “being hit with this bizarre tool.” Dakota says that shooting the intimate scenes in the movie was “emotionally taxing,” and that she initially thought it was “the worst thing ever.” Eventually, she just wanted to get it over with, which made things a little more comfortable. Maybe that’s what gave her the courage to be so adorable and sexually awkward in her newest movie, How to Be Single.

3. Mila Kunis

New mom and wife of fellow actor Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis is not only known for her sex scene with Natalie Portman in Black Swan. She also had a few racy scenes with co-star Justin Timberlake in the move Friends With Benefits. Kunis and Timberlake were so believable in the movie that some people thought they were sleeping together in real life! However, Mila reveals that it was awkward to shoot the scenes, mainly because you can’t get comfortable when there’s an entire film crew in your face. She even says that she fell asleep during some of the scenes. If nothing else, it’s a surefire way not to get aroused and make things more awkward.

2. Kristen Stewart

Kristen Stewart will always be known for “that scene” in Twilight that made all the fans of the movie swoon. While many people praised her for her “work” in the love scene, Stewart said it was hard to live up to the expectations of the fans. She said that “the most epic sex scene of all time” was expected, and she wasn’t sure how to live up to that. Stewart said that this made filming the scene “agony,” and that she wasn’t able to enjoy this part of the acting experience because she “wanted it to be so good.” We’re pretty sure most Twilight fans didn’t have too much of a problem with it.

1. Vanessa Hudgens

Vanessa Hudgens went from being a sweet and innocent Disney character in the High School Musical movie franchise, to having a threesome on screen in Spring Breakers. This was actually her first love scene! Vanessa clearly wanted to break free from her Disney image and be taken seriously as a versatile actor. But she admits that the love scene was jolting for her. Hudgens refers to the experience as “nerve-racking” and says that she told her agent she never wanted to do it “ever again.” Unfortunately, many of Hudgens’ fans will have to deal with the disappointing fact that she probably won’t be filming sex scenes any time soon. Or, at least not any scenes that involve threesomes.

Sources: smosh.com, marieclaire.co.uk