Henry Cavill explains why he hates filming sex scenes
The actor opened up on filming intimate scenes
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Topics: Film and TV, Henry Cavill
Lucy Devine
Topics: Film and TV, Henry Cavill
Actor Henry Cavill has opened up about filming sex scenes, explaining why he dislikes doing them so much.
Appearing as a podcast guest this week, the Argylle actor, 40, spoke candidly about filming intimate scenes, explaining that he's 'not a fan'.
Cavill recently starred in new movie Argylle, which was released last week on February 2.
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Directed by Matthew Vaughn, Cavill plays a fictional spy who is drawn into a treasure hunt that takes him around the world.
The movie focuses on author Elly Conway (played by Bryce Dallas Howard) whose idea of a good time is a night in with her cat, Alfie.
But when the plot of Elly's fictional books begin to mirror the actions of a real-life spy organisation, her life takes a huge turn in direction.
Discussing the show -and acting in general - alongside Vaughn, Cavill came onto the topic of sex scenes in movies.
Cavill explained that while he believes some sex scenes can be beneficial to a film, this isn't always the case.
He even said that they can sometimes be a 'cop out'.
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Cavill explained: “I also don’t understand them. I’m not a fan. I think there are circumstances where a sex scene actually is beneficial to a movie rather than just the audience.
“I think sometimes they’re overused these days. It’s when you have a sense that you’re going ‘Is this really necessary? Or is it just people with less clothing on?’ and that’s where you start to get more uncomfortable and you’re thinking.
"There’s not a performance here, there’s not a piece which is gonna carry through into the rest of the movie."
Cavill explained that he personally thinks the audience's imagination is more effective than any intimate scene.
“Most of the time, the human imagination is gonna trump it, and so I think it can be a little bit of a copout if a TV show or a movie is just filled with gyrating bodies, and you’re going ‘OK? But what is this doing for us?’" he added.
"Apart from the idea of like, ‘Ooo, naked person, great'."
In 2015, Cavill recalled a rather awkward encounter with a female actor when he was 23 which saw him get an erection during filming.
"It's only happened to me once," he told Men's Fitness in 2015.
"A girl had to be on top of me, she had spectacular breasts and I hadn't rearranged my stuff into a harmless position. She's basically rubbing herself all over me and, um, it got a bit hard."
He explained how he apologised profusely, adding: "It's not great when you're in a professional acting environment and somebody gets a b***r is it? No, not acceptable."