Shailene Woodley was thankful she filmed improvised sex scenes near the end of production on Endings, Beginnings because she had built up trust with her co-stars.
In the romantic drama, directed by Like Crazy’s Drake Doremus, the Divergent star plays Daphne, who is caught up in a love triangle with two best friends played by Jamie Dornan and Sebastian Stan.
The movie is semi-improvised, so Shailene was glad the sex scenes were shot towards the end of production because she had more trust with her colleagues.
“Luckily, our intimate scenes came toward the end of the shoot, so there was a great level of trust with the actors,” she told The New York Times. “In one scene, Sebastian picked me up and took me across the room as the camera followed us, and it was a completely different sex scene than what ended up in the movie. But we had to explore all different parts of these two people’s physical nature to really get down to the essence of what worked for this film thematically.”
The 28-year-old shared that they didn’t use an intimacy coach on set and she preferred it that way.
“For me, intimacy coaches make me uncomfortable because it feels like another set of eyes that I don’t need,” the actress continued. “But I have no problem stopping production when I’m uncomfortable, and I don’t think that’s the case for a lot of people, so I think it’s wonderful that there’s a lifeline that people can lean on to know they’ll be protected. That being said, the best thing a director could do is ask an actor right off the bat: ‘What are you comfortable with? What are your boundaries?’”
Woodley enjoyed the experience because she essentially played a version of herself.
“I got to explore some of the more extroverted side of myself who could go out and be free and live with abandon,” she shared. “Because it’s just not something I would allow myself to do.”
Endings, Beginnings, which was originally slated for a cinema release, is available on digital platforms now.
