Margot Robbie felt very uncomfortable during the love scene of One Wolf of Wall Street
Now one of the biggest actresses in the industry, Margot Robbie really burst onto the scene in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street. Although it was a breakout role for the actress, the film was not without its challenges, particularly when it came to one of the film's (many) love scenes. The scene where Margot Robbie's Naomi Lapaglia seduces Leonardo DiCaprio's Jordan Belfort while they were in her daughter's room was very awkward for the actress, as she explained:
You don't see it when you're watching the movie, but we're actually in a tiny room with 30 crew members crammed together. All men. For 17 hours, I pretend to touch myself. It's a very strange thing and you have to bury the shame and the absurdity, really deep and completely committed.
You can see how such an experience surrounded by so many people would be both awkward and isolating. We often think of love scenes as awkward just because you're not getting the job done with the actor in front of you, but this is a reminder of how the nature of a film production amplifies that awkwardness.
As Margot Robbie Carr said, she was in a tiny room with all the men, many of whom she probably didn't know, and she had to act like she was touching herself. It is a situation that has the characteristics of why people feel stage fright, along with the discomfort of performing something that is usually a private act.
What makes this even weirder is that filming the scene wasn't just a 10-minute thing that Margot Robbie had to go through and then it was over; she had to do this for hours and hours. Maybe after the first few hours of discomfort it gets easier and less awkward and more tedious. I also wonder if the fact that the scene has some humor in it made any difference to the filming.
Despite the awkwardness of the situation, Margot Robbie was able to do it. She seems like she forced herself to get over it, to not think about being embarrassed or how weird and awkward it all was, and just do it. In doing so, she delivered one of The Wolf of Wall Street's many memorable moments.
She was committed and, as we have seen from her subsequent performances, her commitment to her role has made her one of the most talented and sought after actresses out there.
This isn't the first time we've heard about how incredibly awkward love scenes are to film and it probably won't be the last. These kinds of scenes will always have some embarrassment, but that doesn't mean improvements can't be made to make them feel more comfortable and safe for the actors involved.
HBO is taking steps to that end. The cable channel, known for its graphic content, is employing an Intim@cy Coordinator on its TV shows and movies that feature s-xually romance scenes, with the goal of championing actors and making them as comfortable as possible with their love scenes.
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