Rob Lowe on Nicole Kidman’s ‘Babygirl’ Sex Scenes: “She’s brave because she has a sex scene? Like, that’s brave now. In our day, it was required.”
In a recent episode of his “Literally!” podcast, Rob Lowe sat down with “Sex and the City” alum Kristin Davis to talk about the evolving landscape of Hollywood, particularly focusing on the rarity of sex scenes in modern films compared to the past. Lowe reminisced about how his 1988 film “Masquerade” was deemed “too sexy” by studios, noting how times have changed since then.
During their discussion, Lowe highlighted the film “Babygirl” by A24, directed by Halina Reijn and starring Nicole Kidman as a CEO entangled in a risqué affair with a younger intern, played by Harris Dickinson. Kidman’s performance, which included several daring scenes, earned her the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival.
“They’re like, ‘It’s so brave. She’s so brave,'” Lowe commented, discussing the current perception of sex scenes in Hollywood as acts of bravery, contrasting it with the past when they were more commonplace.
Lowe pointed out what he referred to as the “page 73 rule” from his earlier days in the industry, where romantic scenes were predictably located on page 73 of the script. This, he said, was a tactic used to maintain interest during the script’s challenging middle section.
“Back in the day, the sex scene was always on page 73. You got a script and were like, ‘Am I going to be naked in this?’ And you didn’t have to read the whole script. You just went to page 73,” Lowe explained, illustrating how industry norms have shifted.
The conversation also touched upon the role of intimacy coordinators in today’s film sets, a new norm that allows for more structured and perhaps bolder intimate scenes. Reijn herself commented on the effectiveness of intimacy coordinators in achieving more intense scenes that appear riskier yet are safer for the actors involved.
Reflecting on broader changes in Hollywood, Lowe expressed a positive outlook towards disruption and change, seeing it as an opportunity to innovate and rethink traditional practices. “I always feel, like, out of chaos comes opportunity. My attitude is always you make the most of it [and] disruption is actually a great time to build new things,” he said.
The podcast episode not only shed light on how Hollywood has transformed over the years but also sparked a conversation about the dynamics of filmmaking and the evolving perceptions of boldness and creativity in the industry.
You can watch the whole episode here:
What do you think about the changing nature of Hollywood, especially in terms of how sex scenes are viewed and handled today? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
