Nicole Kidman has lifted the lid on how the steamy scenes in her latest movie were filmed.
The Practical Magic star’s latest movie for A24 is full of erotic drama – think Fifty Shades if the roles were reversed.
Babygirl was written and directed by Halina Reijin, and stars Kidman as a married CEO who embarks on a kinky romantic affair with her much-younger intern (Harris Dickinson) behind her husband’s (Antonio Banderas) back.
As you can imagine with that synopsis, there were plenty of sex scenes to shoot, and the 57-year-old said to Vanity Fair that the filming process left her feeling ‘vulnerable’.
However, she added that the intimacy coordinators and Reijin left her feeling ‘incredibly safe’, adding: “I knew Halina wasn’t going to exploit me. It’s the story I wanted to be part of, that I wanted to tell.”
The 57-year-old also explained the finer details of the behind-the-scenes sex shots when she and her co-star, Dickinson, attended a screening Q&A in Los Angeles, as reported by PEOPLE.
Nicole Kidman stars as a high-powered CEO who has an affair with her intern, played by Harris Dickinson (A24)
How the sex scenes in Babygirl were filmed
Dickinson, 28, said: “Of course there were days where I would go in really terrified of a scene or I don’t know how I’m going to do this.
“[But] there was never a day that if the scene wasn’t working or if we weren’t comfortable or we weren’t getting something, we never felt that time was more important. It was just like, ‘Okay, everyone go away for a second’.”
Meanwhile, Kidman said an ‘enormous amount of trust’ between her and the Iron Claw star was vital to explore the kink in the film.
She said: “We would look at each other and go ‘okay’. I’ve always been on a quest as an actor, I’m always going, where have I not been? And what can I explore as a human being? And this was an area I’d never been.
“There’s a sort of a jump off the cliff thing where you go, okay, I’m just going to abandon everything and explore this with the people that I trust in a genre that is already set, but hopefully we can explore new territory and especially with the female at the helm.”
The star also heaped praise on Reijn, adding: “You have your director at the helm going, ‘I will protect you. Nothing that’s going to be in the film will be anything that you are not comfortable with. You are going to be okay’.”
Kidman says there was an ‘enormous amount of trust’ between her and Dickinson (A24)
‘I don’t want to orgasm anymore’
While speaking during a press conference for the film, Kidman also explained how shooting the sex scene also left her feeling ‘ragged’ at times due to the ‘radically long takes’.
She said to The Sun: “There was an enormous amount of sharing and trust and then frustration. It’s like, ‘Don’t touch me’.
“There were times when we were shooting where I was like, ‘I don’t want to orgasm anymore’.
“Don’t come near me. I hate doing this. I don’t care if I am never touched again in my life! I’m over it.
“It was so present all the time for me that it was almost like a burnout.”
However, she praised the intimacy coordinator, Lizzy Talbot, calling her ‘important for the film’ and ‘broke the unnecessary barrier and conversation around what you have to do’.
Babygirl will be released in US cinemas on Christmas Day