15 Filipino Celebrities Reveal What It's Like for Them to Shoot Sex Scenes
Acting isn't for everyone. Sure, there are many perks to the job but, at times, it can be incredibly challenging, demanding, and awkward. If celebrities are to be believed, one of the hardest parts of being in their shoes are filming sex scenes. Think about it, having real sex is already hard enough. Faking it for the camera is another story altogether.
Just to prove that point, we've put together quotes from Filipino celebrities about the reality of shooting sex scenes.
Andrea Torres
Andrea Torres says working with professionals is key when filming a sex scene. "Our director [Mark Sicat dela Cruz] sits down and thoroughly discusses with me how we're going to do the scenes. He sees to it that, as much as possible, there are only a few people around during the actual filming. Then, he allows me to check the footage," she said in a press conference for The Better Woman.
Kiko Matos
"I'm straight and, therefore, I will never do what my character Greg did in the movie," Kiko Matos said referring to his role in Born Beautiful. "I stepped into his shoes and gave whatever was required of me. I approached our daring scenes with honesty. Whatever you see in the film, that's my interpretation of Greg's reactions." He approached the sex scenes in the movie the same way: "Martin [del Rosario] and I also shot sex scenes—we did all sorts of things! As an actor, I can't have reservations. I have to attack the role head on. With every role I take, I want it to appear fresh. I want it to be outstanding. But these things are always hit or miss."
Arci Muñoz
For Can We Still Be Friends?, Arci Muñoz says she took advantage of the situation—filming a sex scene with Gerald Anderson and his abs, that is. "Isn't he the Zac Efron of the Philippines? I've always had a crush on Zac," she said. That doesn't mean, however, that she didn't have a hard time. The scene, she says, was the "most difficult thing I had to do in my entire career." She added, "The vodka shots were to release the tension, to make us feel more comfortable. We filmed the scene in the wee hours… It was so challenging that everyone on the set was still wide awake, watching us."
Enzo Pineda
Enzo Pineda says he never got used to being naked on set for Malamaya. "Doing sex scenes is already hard enough because, in order for you and your partner to feel comfortable on the set, you have to pretend that it's just you, that nobody else is there," he said. "In the film, you will see that I'm always buck naked. This was even while there were people on the set watching. It's hard to build confidence in order to finish those sex scenes because, after a while, I would feel awfully shy knowing that I'm the only one naked."
Iza Calzado
Intense was how Iza Calzado described her experience shooting sex scenes for 400 Miles. "The love scenes were intense." She told the Inquirer, "I have no qualms about doing that kind of stuff, although I have limitations. There's no frontal nudity here."
Xian Lim
Sin Island's sex scenes were wild, to say the least. It didn't look like it but Xian Lim felt awkward at the start. "I had a lot of questions for the creative team, since everything was still very new to me, and I felt uneasy," he said. When it came down to filiming, though, he just did what he felt was natural with co-star Nathalie Hart: "While discussing the film, she had all these ideas in her head that she wanted to share with me. I didn't know where to position myself. But when it came to doing the love scene, we didn't talk anymore. Everything was unrehearsed and unplanned. We just let it happen and went along with it. We allowed our bodies to do the talking."
Paolo Gumabao
Paolo Gumabao also believes in keeping sex scenes professional. He even has a mantra when shooting one: "We are just simulating sex, we are not having sex." He reasons, "I think, pag umabot sa point na nalibugan ka, or tumigas, I think that's when it becomes, you know, unprofessional. Kasi, we're still actors, eh. We're not porn stars. It has to be at the back of your head na sini-simulate niyo lang ang sex, hindi totoo ang nangyayari."
Jane Oineza
Jane Oineza was told during the pitching stage of Project Feb 14 that there would be intimate scenes. This didn't stop her from getting nervous, but what did help was planning the scenes. "Kinabahan ako siyempre, maraming mga eksena na, 'Hala, paano gagawin?' Kasi pag binasa mo sa script, ganito yung description, inisip ko, paano ie-execute sa camera, kailangan ba talaga nakahubad, ganun. Pero inalagaan ako ni Direk Jason at saka sa amin naman, open ako sa mga ganung roles, sa mga mas nakakapag-experiment ako, mga daring, ganyan. Masaya ako sa mga ganun, challenging."
Ryza Cenon
Ryza Cenon went "all out" for her first time filming explicit scnees. She told PEP, "All out na. All out talaga. First time ko siyang gawin. Siyempre, hindi mawawala ang kaba at takot. Kahit naman sa staff, sinasabi ko, mas mahirap sa akin ang sex scene kaysa sa masturbation scene. Kasi sa masturbation, under my control. Ako lang yun so pwede ko siya kontrolin ang eksena. Pag sa sex scene, hindi ko mako-control si Cholo [Barretto]. Kung ano man ang nararamdaman niya, kailangan ko yung respetuhin kasi tao lang rin siya. Naging honest naman ako kay Cholo, na takot ako, kinakabahan ako."
Nathalie Hart
Nathalie Hart just wanted to get her sex scenes with Xian Lim for Sin Island over with and done. "Doon sa mga love scenes na ginawa namin, sinabi ko nalang na gawin mo nalang at gagawin ko nalang din.' Para we can just finish it," she said, "It wasn't easy for me too... it was very awkward for me too. It really is awkward," she said. Hart adds she "didn't want to interfere" and just "wanted to finish the job" out of respect for Lim's girlfriend Kim Chiu.
Gerald Anderson
While filming the sex scene for Erik Matti's OTJ, Gerald Anderson got surprised seeing Dawn Jimenez as he didn't know she would be naked. "Nagulat ako," Anderson said. "Siyempre, hindi ko ini-expect na ganon pala dahil sanay ako sa mga ginagawa sa TV na mas tame, mas maingat, kumbaga, pagdating sa sexuality." He adds, "It's my first time talaga kaya nagulat ako. Hindi naman ako gumagawa ng ganong eksena, eh."
Derek Ramsay
At this point, Derek Ramsay is a sex scene expert. He knows what makes an easy shoot and not to get carried away: "Ayoko kasi may plaster masakit siya, eh. I think you have to respect them and if something happens downstairs I think you're disrespecting the person you're doing the scene with kasi that means you’re not acting anymore. So, you have to be professional." But, he admits filming a sex scene with Coleen Garcia was challenging. "Maraming factors, one is nga her age, how we were going to make it work, number two is Billy's [Crawford] one of my closest friends in the industry and there are a lot of factors pero ang nakatulong talaga sa amin is how professional she is and our director who made us feel comfortable. She trusted me. Nire-respeto ko siya."
Jameson Blake
Jameson Blake didn't want to overthink things and sought help from the director for his masturbation scene. "I asked our director what was the purpose of that scene because it was my first movie and I want to pull it off ng maayos. I didn’t want to overthink it. Ginawa ko and I pulled it off," he says.
Rhian Ramos
Silong marked Rhian Ramos' first sex scene in a movie and, as she says, it was intense and daring. "My hands were so cold and I was freaking out and [Piolo Pascual and I] had not really a workshop but a chill getting-to-know-you kind of time first before shooting. While they were setting up kasi the set we were free for like a whole hour and I was sitting there with my wine and we were just chatting about life and sharing things about ourselves. I feel that we established a level of trust by opening up to each other. But I want you to know that my aggressive moves were in the script, they're not adlib"
Kit Thompson
Kit Thompson shot down a common misconception about filming sex scenes in an interview with PEP. "Alam mo, mahirap kasi malibugan pag maraming nakatingin, eh, parang nakaka-urong," he said. "Mahirap talaga… I have to get into the character, but at the same time, of course, hindi ko mage-get rid yung voice na baka may nanonood."
