Olivia Colman has opened up about filming intimate scenes with Alexander Skarsgård in her new film Wicker, admitting that the experience could have been “cripplingly embarrassing” without the right people around her.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Tonight, the Oscar-winning actress discussed how the unusual nature of the film, along with the trust between the cast and crew, helped make the scenes more comfortable.
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“I am quite square, so it helped me enormously that between us was a wicker suit,” Colman said.
“We trusted each other. The directors were a married couple so there was lots of laughter. We had Ita O'Brien who was our intimacy coordinator. A good intimacy coordinator is invaluable. They can take away the embarrassment. They choreograph it.”
Colman went on to praise intimacy coordinator Ita O'Brien for helping the cast navigate the more awkward moments on set.
Olivia Colman. Editorial credit: Joe Seer, Shutterstock
“She made it so easy cause you know, I would find that sort of thing cripplingly embarrassing. I'd really rather put poo in my eye than have to do that,” she joked.
She also praised her co-star Skarsgård, adding: “It was so much fun with you, and with everybody involved.”
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The pair star together in Wicker, a fantasy romantic comedy that puts an unusual spin on the traditional love story.
In the film, Colman plays a lonely fisherwoman who is mocked by the people in her seaside village. Fed up with their judgement and tired of being alone, she commissions a local basketmaker, played by Peter Dinklage, to create a husband for her out of wicker.
Skarsgård plays the unusual husband, whose arrival causes outrage, jealousy and chaos in the conservative community.
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The film explores love, marriage, desire and the expectations placed on women, all through a decidedly unconventional fairy tale.
The cast also includes Elizabeth Debicki and Richard E. Grant, with the film written and directed by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson. It is based on Ursula Wills-Jones' short story The Wicker Husband.
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Early reviews have been largely positive, with critics praising Colman's performance, the chemistry between the leads and the film's unusual blend of romance and raunchy comedy.
Rotten Tomatoes has highlighted Colman's performance and the film's humour, while some reviewers have suggested the story loses momentum in places.
Wicker runs for 105 minutes and will be released in Irish cinemas on Friday, October 30.
