Joel Edgerton has given his Red Sparrow director Francis Lawrence credit for the way he handled the sex and violence in the film.
The Australian actor was blown away by the filmmaker's ability to take something that seemed very silly in the moment and turn it into one of the year's movie talking points.
He and Lawrence reveal the sex scenes in the film, featuring Jennifer Lawrence as a Russian ballerina-turned-spy, and one intense torture scene that will have moviegoers squirming in their seats were shot with great care.
Jennifer helped by joking in between takes, but director Francis and his leading man insist nothing was as intense as it seems on the big screen.
"Once Jen signed on we wanted to be really careful that we did these (sex) scenes right," the filmmaker tells WENN. "It's very easy for people to get shy about that material and had we not broken the ice early, the next thing you know you're coming up to that scene and you're worried about it because you haven't talked about it, so you just have to be as open as possible.
"In terms of the violent stuff, I keep hearing about the skin grafting scene and people keep talking about how intense that is. It's shocking to me because on the day it actually feels kind of silly. I mean Joel is tied to his chair in his underwear sort of writhing around and there's a guy there with a rubber prop going at his back."
"And I'm asking for more bits of towel to shove in my mouth because I'm gagged," Joel laughs. "But, as actors, you kind of weirdly say, 'Do this harder'. Everybody is game to make it look terrifying, but at the end of the day it is a little silly."
"Hats off to Francis in the handling of those sexual scenes," he adds. "To make it about the brutality and not some kind of attempt to excite an audience. It's amazing how game you are when you sign up for a project. It doesn't mean you don't have anxiety going into it and you may wrestle with your own demons about it but you're game and you become fearless."
