MOST actors dread having to perform sex scenes but thanks to discreet tricks, Dutch courage and joking around, many have found ways to overcome their embarrassment.
It follows singer Demi Lovato having “a little anxiety” ahead of filming their first fumble under the sheets for the NBC comedy, Hungry.
The Heart Attack hitmaker, 28, admitted they “barely show anything” during the throes of passion and eventually they overcame their embarrassment.
Demi shared a snap on Twitter, captioned: “Yay for this random burst of body confidence and yay for awkward hilarious sex.”
While this is a first for the star, some actors who regularly perform sex scenes have developed handy tips to overcome the red faces.
‘Getting really drunk’
One option for some of the stars is to ply themselves with a considerable amount of alcohol before filming.
They include Margot Robbie, who had romps with Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2013 flick The Wolf of Wall Street.
She told Grazia: “I did three shots of tequila at like nine in the morning, right before doing it.”
Margot’s not alone, Jennifer Lawrence also feared getting intimate on camera in the 2016’s Passengers, which co-starred Chris Pratt.
“I was like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna get hammered for the sex scene ‘cause it’s stressful and scary’”, she revealed on Late Night with Seth Myers.
However, the one thing Jennifer forgot was how long steamy scenes take to shoot and that one took eight hours.
She continued: “I was incredibly hungover by the time they got to me.”
Kiera Knightly and Michael Fassbender took the same approach while filming raunchy scenes in A Dangerous Method.
She told the Mirror: “We were both very nervous about those scenes because they are not nice.
“We had a couple of shots of vodka before doing the scene and a couple of glasses of champagne afterwards.”
Nipple covers, ‘man bags’ & pink cover-ups
Ryan Reynolds was in for quite the shock when he filmed a fling with Olivia Wilde in the 2011 film The Change-Up.
“I forgot every line in the scene,” said the Hollywood star. “Not just from this movie but from every other movie I've done.”
The cause for his memory lapse was an amusing prank from Olivia, which was unveiled when they were stripping off.
He told The Tonight Show: “I take her top off and the bra off, and she has those pasties on, but she’s drawn these adorable little smiley faces on them.”
Emilia Clarke suffered a similar outburst of laughter while filming a scene with Jason Mamoa, in Game of Thrones.
In the hit HBO show, they played lovers Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drogo.
But Emilia couldn’t contain herself after noticing the unusual object the Hawaii-born hunk had used to cover his manhood.
“It was huge and pink and I didn’t know what to do,” she said through giggles on The Graham Norton Show.
As for Jamie Dornan, he used a “little flesh-coloured bag” while filming Fifty Shades to ensure there were no embarrassing fallouts.
“As a guy, you put all your essentials in a little bag,” he told GQ. “You tie it up like a little bag of grapes and it's tucked away.
“It's quite a peculiar thing to do every day."
Whoopee cushion
Harlots star Jessica Brown Findlay opted to “break the ice” by trying to make her co-star laugh during sex scenes.
“I found it quite amusing if you put a whoopee cushion underneath someone,” she told the Radio Times.
She admitted it was still “massively awkward” but helped to reduce tension by making scenes "funny”.
Jessica continued: “There’s a time and place for a laugh… it’s not all fun and games.”
As for Kate Winslet, one energetic bedroom scene in Romance and Cigarettes was assisted by “a little exercise ball”.
Director John Turturro said the actress had “sprained her ankle” ahead of filming and they feared rolling around together could worsen the injury.
His solution: “Let's put Kate on a little ball, a little exercise ball.
"So I had two prop guys to hold her and I realised they may start laughing, so I said, 'Put something in your mouth because I don't want you laughing.’"
‘Don’t procrastinate’
It didn’t seem Kate has always been happy to film steamy scenes as she claimed body parts tend to go all over the place.
She told V: “It’s a profoundly bizarre thing to do…
"You can literally be tangled in the sheets and you turn to the other actor and say, ‘What the f*** are we doing?’
“Dear Mum, at work today I had so-and-so’s left nut sack pressed against my cheek. It’s sort of unethical if you think about it in those terms.”
Kate admitted that she “hates it” and doesn’t enjoy sex scenes in any way but has to remain a professional.
She added: “Listen make no mistake, I just get on with it. I just go in and say, ‘Oh f***, let’s do it’.
"And Boom. If you complain about it or procrastinate it’s not going to go away.”
Even while working with DiCaprio during their famous romp in the 1997 film Titanic, Kate didn’t feel comfortable.
In Revolutionary Road, which was directed by Kate’s then-husband Sam Mendes, a second onscreen romp with DiCaprio was in the script.
She told The Telegraph: “I just kept saying, ‘This is too… weird. And Leo was like, ‘Oh, get over it!’
“I’m going, ‘Yeah, a little reminder: you’re my best friend, he’s my husband. This is a bit weird.”
‘Making jokes’ & giggling
During the filming of Live by Night, Sienna Miller revealed she struggled to keep her composure while performing marathon sex romps with Ben Affleck.
She told E! News: “It’s hysterical. Ben and I are like brother and sister, thank God! So there was no awkwardness.
“There was a lot of stupid giggling. He’s very professional, I am not – but he is.”
During a montage in the film, the couple “did it everywhere” including in a car and at a bar.
Sienna said: “That’s an entire day of just love scenes!
“Obviously, by the time nine hours of it had gone past, I was shaking with tears running down my face. I mean, I can’t tell you but you have to laugh.”
Even Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, while they were loved-up and known as ‘Brangelina’, struggled to film sex scenes together for The Sea.
She felt onscreen sex was always “strange” but it was weirder having to perform them with your actual partner.
Angelina told Entertainment Weekly: “Love scenes are strange anyway but when you’re doing a love scene with a person that you really have sex with?
“The only way to get through it was for us to all talk about the absurdity of it and make sure no one was awkward.”
‘Have fun with it’ & ‘don’t care’
John Hamm revealed a similar approach while filming Bridesmaids alongside film love interest Kristen Wiig.
Despite calling fake sex “weird and uncomfortable” he says “awkwardness melts away” over time.
John eventually felt more at ease despite being stuck wearing a “weird flesh-coloured thong”.
He continued: “You think, ‘Alright, we’re doing this, so let’s have fun with it’.
“You’re in that moment and it’s happening and it’s not going to get any better, so you might as well enjoy it.”
Meanwhile, Lena Dunham admitted she got past the point of caring during her sex scenes in Girls and “stopped wearing the nude patch” after season one.
She told ELLE: “There's not one guy who works on that show who hasn't seen the inside of my vagina.
“You glue it over your vagina. It gets sweaty and always falls off. My male co-stars, at the end of the day, don't care.”
'I found it arousing'
Unlike most stars, Hugh Grant admitted he had “always enjoyed sex scenes” despite being on a crowded film set.
He said: “The classic answer is, ‘Oh, it’s not sexy at all because there are so many technicians standing around’. But I’ve always found them extremely arousing.”
The Notting Hill star believed he was one of few actors who savoured lovemaking on screen as “you’re not really supposed to”.
Hugh wasn’t the only one who got a little too hot under the collar – and unfortunately for Henry Cavill, a gaffe left him “apologising profusely”.
While filming a scene for The Tudors, the actor noted his co-star “had spectacular breasts” and struggled to keep his composure.
Henry told Men’s Health: “I hadn’t rearranged my… stuff into a harmless position. She’s basically rubbing herself all over me and, um, it got a bit hard.”
He was humiliated and after saying sorry multiple times admitted it was “not acceptable”.
“It’s not great when you’re in a professional acting environment and somebody gets a boner, is it?” Henry added.
‘Make a fool of myself’
A number of actors try making light of the tense moments and tell jokes while filming to make co-stars and the crew more comfortable.
But Michael Fassbender and others said they talk about boundaries and what their onscreen partner is comfortable with before shooting.
He said: “You don’t want the girl to feel like you’re getting a free feel or something.
“I try to make a fool of myself in one way or another to lighten the mood and then just go for it… you don’t want to be doing take after take.”
Jake Gyllenhaal asked his co-star Anne Hathaway what to do and what to avoid before their tryst in Love and Other Drugs.
He said: “I always feel like it’s my responsibility to, kind of, protect and make sure that she feels comfortable because they tend to be more objectified.”
During an interview with HollywoodLife, he recalled trying “to ease and make her comfortable” by asking questions.
“Where do you want me to go? What do you want me to do? What do you feel comfortable doing?'', Jake quizzed.
He said Anna replied: “You do your thing and I’ll do my thing. I’m fine on my own.”
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