Shailene Woodley’s First On-Screen Sex Scene Makes Her Smile
Shailene Woodley has never been shy about the fact that she loves love. Just looking at the actor’s resume, it’s clear that she’s done a lot of work that center around romance. Part of that is because those are often the roles available to women in her age bracket. However, Woodley is also drawn to stories about love. And, these romantic films and TV shows often necessitate sex scenes.
Shailene Woodley sets clear boundaries for sex scenes
Throughout the course of her career, Woodley has developed a way of approaching sex scenes. Though she admits that intimacy coordinators make her uncomfortable, she has no problem advocating for herself. For each intimate scene, she sits down with the director of the project to discuss boundaries. If nudity is required, she makes sure it’s not gratuitous. And, when the cameras are rolling, she isn’t afraid to stop production if she’s ever uncomfortable.
The actor did her first sex scene at age 21 in ‘The Spectacular Now’
Woodley may be comfortable navigating sex scenes at this juncture in her career. But what was it like for her to shoot her very first sex scene? The Divergent alum was only 21 when she shot her first love scene alongside Miles Teller in The Spectacular Now. Fortunately, for Woodley, she had a great experience. She even enjoyed watching the scene back on the big screen because she had such a separation between herself and the character that she was playing.
“I don’t even see that as me,” Woodley shared with Vanity Fair about watching the sex scene. “That is like the 16- or 17-year-old version of me that I never really was. I never had that sweet, tender moment with a guy when I was that young, so it makes me smile because I only wish that a lot more women could have first experiences like that.”
Woodley felt very comfortable with her scene partner, Miles Teller
Woodley loves that her character, Aimee and Teller’s character, Sutter, get to share such a tender moment. In fact, it’s a favorite of Woodley’s. It seems the experience of filming the sex scene wasn’t a hardship either. The Fallout actor felt a great deal of trust with her scene partner, Teller, and was really able to relax into the experience.
“It’s my favorite scene in the whole movie!” Woodley added about the sex scene. “I think we only did three or four takes. It was both of our first times having an onscreen [sex] scene. It was such a safe, comfortable environment and I am so grateful that it was with Miles because he was such a gentleman and made me feel very comfortable and nurtured. And I think I made him feel very comfortable and nurtured. It was really sweet.”
Clearly, Woodley felt a sense of safety with Teller. No wonder their friendship continues to this day.
