Why Henry Cavill Doesn't Enjoy Shooting Sex Scenes
Henry Cavill has been seen as a sex symbol for the better part of the last decade, but that doesn't necessarily mean he enjoys shooting the more risque scenes in films and television. The actor opened up about the subject on a recent episode of the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast with Josh Horowitz, and it sounds like he sees them as largely superfluous to the overall experience.
"I don't understand them –- I'm not a fan," Cavill explained. "I think there are circumstances where a sex scene actually is beneficial to a movie, rather than just the audience, but I think sometimes they're overused these days." The actor has been involved in erotic scenes for "The Tudors" and "The Witcher," just to name a couple of examples, and he went on to emphasize why he doesn't really dig these moments.
"It's when you have a sense where you're going, 'Is this really necessary or is it just people with less clothing on?'" Cavill said. "And that's when you start to get more uncomfortable, and you're thinking, 'There's not a performance here, there's not a piece which is going to carry through to the rest of the movie.'"
Cavill thinks they can be meaningful but doesn't want to shoot them
Sex scenes have drawn their share of controversy in more recent years, largely because of women speaking out as part of the #metoo movement. However, Henry Cavill's criticism isn't so much that they need more intimacy coordinators but simply that they fail to add anything to the experience outside of nudity and sexual titillation for the audience.
Still, he's not against them entirely. "Sex scenes can be great in a movie," Cavill said. "They can really help with the storytelling... [but] most of the time, the human imagination is going to trump it," he reasoned. "So, it can be a little bit of a cop-out if a TV show or a movie is just filled with gyrating bodies, and you're going, 'Okay, but what is this doing for us apart from the idea of, oh, naked person, great?'"
Cavill deliberately worked out at least one scene in the past so that the more sexual elements were removed in favor of a loving embrace. The actor spoke out about how he and Yennefer actress Anya Chalotra changed a scene from "The Witcher" Season 2 to feel more honest and heartfelt rather than steamy.
While sex scenes are unlikely to be going anywhere soon, it is possible that future projects can make them a more useful part of the experience, something that actors like Cavill would no doubt appreciate. Either way, the "Man of Steel" actor was clear that he is not a fan of such scenes.