Franz Rogowski Opens Up About Sex Scenes In Gay Drama Passages
Image: Franz Rogowski and Ben Whishaw in 'Passages'.
Franz Rogowski (Happy End) opens up about the “real intimacy” during steamy sex scenes with Ben Whishaw (Skyfall) in the gay drama, Passages.
In an interview with GQ, Rogowski shared the details of filming the sweaty, intimate scenes.
‘It Really Felt Like Sex’
“We had no intimacy coach; we created the intimacy ourselves. We didn’t really know how it would work, so we were all nervous,” Rogowski explained.
“We met, we walked it through. We knew that we would just have to jump right into it, and have sex. And I mean, it wasn’t real sex, but we created real intimacy: we were sweating, we were touching each other, rubbing our bodies together, you know, grabbing each others’ ass. I think it helped that we just trusted each other.
“I think a lot of it had to do with the duration, these very long takes. Sometimes you shoot for like twenty seconds; we shot these scenes for five minutes, ten minutes. So it really felt like sex.”
‘Wanted To Make A Sexy Film’
The movie, set in Paris, follows longtime married gay couple Tomas (Rogowski) and Martin (Whishaw). When one has an affair with a woman, Agathe (Adèle Exarchapoulos), the resulting love triangle threatens to tear their lives apart.
Speaking to Variety about the film, Director Ira Sachs said, “I’ve tried to make films about human beings and human lives and human relationships,”
Sachs continued, “I also wanted to make a sexy film, like I wanted to make a film that didn’t shy away from skin and bodies and lights and forms and sex. But I couldn’t have done it without the actors, like I can create those scenes, but they’re actually giving us those scenes. So there’s a level of generosity.”
Along with Franz Rogowski (Happy End) and Ben Whishaw (Skyfall), Passages also stars Adèle Exarchopoulos (The Animal Kingdom), Olivier Rabourdin (Chocolat), and Caroline Chaniolleau.
After premiering at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, Passages received a rare NC-17 rating from the Motion Picture Association, which left Sachs frustrated.
