6 TV sex scenes which were a disaster off camera
Any actor will tell you that there are particular moments when you really don't want things to go wrong: big stunts (fear of injury or death), and sex scenes (ditto? Or at least major embarrassment).
The following six leading men and women (plus their fellow cast members and crew), however, weren't so lucky when it came to time to get horizontal, and things did indeed go awry.
Brace yourselves.
1. Henry Cavill (The Tudors) – failed to 'rearrange his stuff'
It’s only natural that an attractive naked person writhing around on top of you might cause some, erm, problems that you’d rather not have to deal with in a room full of people.
But Henry Cavill has been there, done that and still shudders whenever he recalls that fateful day.
"It's actually acutely uncomfortable being naked in a room full of people," he told Men's Fitness.
"The very last thing it is is sexy. The actual physicality is very uncomfortable. All you're doing is smacking your nuts against someone, and nothing is going in."
"A girl had to be on top of me," he continued. "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. I had to apologise profusely afterwards."
He added: "It's not great when you're in a professional acting environment and somebody gets a boner, is it? No, not acceptable."
We can't argue with you there, Henry.
2. Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) – 'pink sock' terror
Game of Thrones is a show jam-packed with history and lore, meticulously crafted to create a rich, textured viewing experience. It’s also stuffed with nudity and sex, requiring more than a handful of its cast members to strip off and do the deed – and if there’s one person who knows what that’s like, it’s Emilia Clarke.
Daenerys, Mother of Dragons, and Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) got to know each other better than most during their time filming, and it was one of the pair's early sex scenes that added a whole new dimension to their relationship.
The 32-year-old was trying to do what all the best performers do and immerse herself in the moment, but she simply couldn't compose herself because Momoa was rocking a colossal pink sock to cover his modesty.
"It's huge and it's pink and I don't know what to do,” she squealed during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show.
Talk about a distraction.
3. Kristen Schaal (Last Man on Earth) – parp
Letting one rip in front of people who aren’t your immediate family or very dearest friends is a punishment that we wouldn’t wish on our worst enemies.
Unfortunately for actor and comedian Kristen Schaal, she did just that when shooting a sex scene for comedy series Last Man on Earth, her release set in motion following a lot of heavy breathing.
During an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, she explained what went down: "Carol is aggressively and sexually talking to Phil – that's a lot of diaphragm work, which is also in the danger zone of where the beans are.
"Finally, I just looked at Will [Forte] and I was like, 'I’m gonna fart on you.' And I did. If you fart on your scene partner it's the most intimate you can get."
Will definitely got more than he bargained for.
4. Lizzy Caplan (Masters of Sex) – provoked vomit
Poor Lizzy Caplan. The 36-year-old was put through her paces by co-star Michael Sheen in ways that she couldn't possibly have predicted when filming Masters of Sex.
"It was weird the first time I took my clothes off with Michael Sheen,” she said on Conan.
"We’re getting all hooked up on science talk and the science of sex which is what the show is all about. I was scared mainly because he was my friend at that point and I don’t conduct myself in that way with my friends generally.
"But he was very professional and I’m someone who can be professional and I thought, 'It'll be fine'. Also, it was a pivotal scene for the show and it was necessary."
Disaster pending...
"I begin the unbuttoning of the blouse and I notice that I’m very nervous and my hands are shaking. Then I grab his hands and I notice his hands are shaking and a little clammy, and he looks bad and nervous and shaky, and it's making me feel a little better."
Disaster imminent...
"And we complete the scene, I place the hand on my breast and they yell 'Cut' and he immediately walks over to a garbage can and throws up."
It turns out that Sheen had eaten something dodgy and was paying the price. But Caplan didn't know that.
"I thought it was a direct cause-and-effect situation," she added.
"My whole self-confidence plummeted to the ground and I realised that I'm a monster and anybody who touches me will immediately start vomiting and that’s just the way it's going to be."
So, not quite the reaction she was hoping for.
5. Jesse Metcalfe (Desperate Housewives) – 'did a Cavill'
Henry Cavill isn't the only one who found shooting a sex scene just a little bit too much. Jesse Metcalfe also suffered the exact same problem.
During an interview with radio station 106.5 Sacramento, the actor revealed that some of his steamier scenes with Eva Longoria’s Gabrielle Solis were a challenge.
"It happens," he admitted. "It doesn't happen that frequently because there are a lot of people on set, and it can be very technical, but it happens from time to time."
Unfortunately, that included their very first romp together: "As a matter of fact, in the first scene we ever had, where Gabrielle and John first had sex, we were rehearsing and then the director was like, 'OK, get out of bed, we have to reset the set', and I was like, 'I need a minute.'"
Never. Not. Awkward.
6. Michael Cudlitz (The Walking Dead) – corpsing, so to speak
The Walking Dead certainly isn’t the sexiest show out there, what with all the zombies, blood and guts. Yum.
But that doesn’t mean that the post-apocalyptic horror doesn’t know how to do romance when the mood strikes. However, it turns out that those moments don't always unfold as seamlessly as one might hope.
During a scene between Michael Cudlitz’s Abraham and Rosita (Christian Serratos), things became a lot more awkward than either actor had anticipated.
"I'm on top of Christian and we're mostly naked, but not fully naked. We're all covered,” said Cudlitz at the San Jose Fan Fest.
"We're shooting this scene and at one point [the crew are] like, 'There's certain directions you can move on TV and certain directions you can't move on TV. You can't go that way, but you can go that way. So we need less of that and more of that.'"
All of that movement, as you’d imagine, caused things to go slightly off-piste.
"Then we just started laughing, because it's ridiculous," he added.
"It's two people, we barely know each other, lying on top of each other naked."
Well, that's certainly one way to get to know each other.
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