All of Us Strangers star Paul Mescal is opening up about what it's like to actually film sex scenes and why he's proud of the ones he's shot so far.
During a recent episode of Variety'sActors on Actors series, Paul sat down with Natalie Portman to discuss their latest projects and their experience in Hollywood.
Paul and Andrew Scott are the leading men in the new romantic fantasy All of Us Strangers, which is a movie adaptation of Taichi Yamada's 1987 novel Strangers.
After a chance encounter one night, Andrew's character Adam runs into his mysterious neighbor Harry (Paul's character), and the two eventually develop a romantic relationship.
“Films like this are an indication of a distance that we’ve traveled, but ultimately, there’s quite a ways to go," Paul told Variety. "All I can talk about is my experience with filming those scenes."
"Andrew Scott’s character, Adam, who is in his mid-40s, has a difficult relationship to sex. My character serves as a safe landing space for him to re-explore his sexuality. I think sex in film, when it can be healing and sexy at the same time, that’s when it’s at its best.”
Paul went on to say how thankful he is to have participated in sex scenes that actually elevated the script, instead of ones that made him question why it was even in the project.
"I don’t know about you, but I’ve been lucky that I haven’t been in a sex scene in a film where I think, ‘I don’t know why this is here.’"
"I also think that the sex scene in May December is a huge moment and so stark," Paul told Natalie. "There’s a wonderful line that your character has, which is so terrifying."
"When Charles Melton is sitting at the end of a bed and you say, ‘It’s just what adults do.’ My stomach dropped. I thought, ‘This is so cruel.’”
All of Us Strangers is set for limited release in the United States on Dec. 22. For more of Paul and Natalie, be sure to check out the full Actors on Actors episode below:
