‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ Emma Corrin Says They ‘Didn’t Have to Fake Anything’ While Filming Intimate Scenes With Jack O’Connell
Their fellow The Crown alum Claire Foy recently said sex scenes are “the grimmest thing you can do” as an actor. However, My Policeman’s Emma Corrin jumped at the chance to star in one of the raciest films of the year: Netflix’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover.
Starring alongside Jack O’Connell, Corrin says they found the film’s numerous sex scenes liberating, particularly those filmed in the rugged Welsh countryside.
D.H. Lawrence’s ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ was originally banned
Written by D.H. Lawrence in 1928 but banned in the UK and the US for several years, Lady Chatterley’s Lover details the sexual awakening of Connie Chatterley (Corrin).
After their wedding, Connie’s husband, Clifford Chatterley (Matthew Duckett) is paralyzed from the waist down after a war injury. Connie intellectually loves Clifford. But she longs for intimacy and begins an affair with the estate’s gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors (O’Connell). But Connie soon realizes her relationship with Oliver is far more than a fling.
Though Lawrence’s novel gained its notoriety primarily from its passionate sex scenes, it was also banned because Connie and Oliver’s relationship broke societal rules. Connie was an aristocratic woman, and Oliver was a working-class man.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover became Lawrence’s most famous novel due to these elements. But Lawrence’s deep investigation of the necessary components for fulfillment made the novel one of the most seminal stories in history.
Lawrence believed that a person cannot be fulfilled by the mind or body alone. Both elements must be present to be truly free and happy. This was never so fully recognized than in Lawrence’s final novel, Lady Chatterley’s Lover.
‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ star Emma Corrin on the film’s racy sex scenes
“I think certainly that it was the most exhilarating thing I have ever done in my life,” Corrin said while discussing Lady Chatterley’s Lover on The Graham Norton Show (via Insider).
Though many actors may feel intimidated by being on camera while completely nude in the great outdoors, Corrin reveals they were drawn to the script because of this element. “In filmmaking, it is pretend, so it’s rare that you are actually in a situation where you are literally thinking and feeling exactly as your character would be, they explained.”
Netflix’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover was filmed on an estate in Wales with the Chatterley manor atop a hill that leads down to a forest and river. In their interview with The Cut, Corrin describes the meaning behind the location. They point out that the house represents Connie’s repression, while nature represents the character’s freedom.
“Being completely naked in the Welsh countryside meant you didn’t have to fake anything,” Corrin continued. “You were just feeling it, and it was quite amazing.”
The actor may have found Lady Chatterley’s Lover’s copious sex scenes thrilling. But Corrin also hinted their family and friends watching the film may have proved a little awkward: “They all sat through it and all coped…[and] they are all still talking to me!”
Jack O’Connell’s movies before Netflix’s ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’
Starring opposite Corrin as Lady Chatterley’s lover, O’Connell’s breakout role came on the British coming-of-age series, Skins. Since then, the actor has made a name for himself by portraying incredibly powerful characters in unforgettable performances.
Following his role on Skins, O’Connell starred in 2013’s Starred Up and 2014’s ’71. He portrayed the real-life Olympian Louis Zamperini in a career-making performance in Unbroken. Then, O’Connell portrayed Roy Goode in Netflix’s Godless with Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery.
More recently, O’Connell starred in the brutal arctic story The North Water and the miniseries Rogue Heroes. In addition to Lady Chatterley’s Lover, which premieres on Netflix on November 25, 2022, O’Connell will also star in the upcoming (and highly anticipated) Ferrari, due out next year.
