Oppenheimer Sex Scene Didn’t Go As Planned, Florence Pugh Says

Summary:

• Oppenheimer is Christopher Nolan 's latest film that was released in July 2023.
• Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh were cast to portray J. Robert Oppenheimer and Jean Tatlock, and have been praised for their performances.
• As Pugh admits, the intimate scene between their characters was one of the most challenging to film.

Anyone who has seen at least one movie or TV show where the actors share fairly intimate scenes with each other has to wonder about the filming process. According to the majority of Hollywood stars who have shared the details of their experiences, it's rarely sunshine and rainbows, and actors have nothing to do with it.

As difficult as it is to portray intimacy on screen in a tasteful yet believable way that does not end up being censored for pornography, it is even harder to do so with multiple crew members, artificial lighting, and cameras in the room. The process is often chaotic and leaves both actors exhausted.

Of course, lately most sets get help from various professionals, such as intimacy coordinators, to make the process of filming as comfortable as possible. However, there are some things that no coordinator can predict and avoid. Oppenheimer's Florence Pugh and Cillian Murphy now know all about it.

Oppenheimer’s Sex Scene: What Happened

The on-screen moment between J. Robert Oppenheimer and Jean Tatlock has caused a lot of controversy since the film's release. It all started with various countries censoring Pugh's body and adding a CGI nightgown to it to avoid showing nudity.

As the conversation went on, some viewers started to argue that the scene wasn't needed there at all. Whether you believe it was there for a reason or not, the most interesting fact about this raunchy scene is that it caused problems even during the filming stages.

Florence Pugh looked back on the accident during Oppenheimer's panel:

“In the middle of our sex scene, the camera broke. No one knows this, but it did. Our camera broke when we were both naked, and it was not ideal timing. Cillian and I are in this room together. It’s a closed set, so we’re both holding our bodies,” the actress revealed.

Luckily for her and her filming partner, she was able to avoid general awkwardness around the situation by asking questions about the camera setup and the exact problems they were having. In no time, the difficulty was resolved and the day's shooting picked up right where it left off.

Thanks to Florence Pugh's curiosity about every aspect of filmmaking, the overall bad moment on set ended up being quite educational for everyone involved, even though the memories of it are still quite fresh and haunting.

If you're interested in seeing Oppenheimer and haven't had a chance to, it's now available to rent on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV Plus, YouTube, and Google Play Movies.

Source: Universal Pictures