Lizzy Caplan: Sex scenes are funny

Lizzy Caplan gets “a wave of anxiety” when she remembers her sex scenes will be on TV.

The actress takes on a lead role in Masters of Sex, a drama about research into human sexuality.

Part of the job means Lizzy has to film some intimate moments, which she doesn’t mind at the time. It’s when it comes to playing it back that the star gets nervous.

“[They’re] always funny. When it’s not funny, that’s the only time that it’s really scary,” she told LA Confidential magazine of the scenes, adding there was one moment where she is naked with co-star Michael Sheen in series two that she struggled with.

“That was the first time in a while that I was in my trailer beforehand having the feeling of, ‘Oh, I don’t want to do this. I would rather be doing just about anything else!’

“But knowing it’s not exactly optional, it’s part of my job, I believed in it for the narrative of the story. I frequently forget that it’s going to be on television, and when I remember that, I get a wave of anxiety.”

The 32-year-old’s career has been diverse – she starred in popular chick flick Mean Girls as feisty Janis in 2004 and also filmed a few episodes of comedy New Girl with Zooey Deschanel.

She’s always wanted to dabble with drama and couldn’t believe her luck when she scooped Masters of Sex.

“I honestly cannot believe that I got the job I’ve been waiting for,” she gushed.

“It just makes no sense to me that I get to go to work on that show every day and play that woman.

“Doing a dramatic role was something that I could see myself doing on a very small scale—independent films—but on a large scale, on a show that people actually seem to watch' It’s completely shocking to me.”