Poor Creatures: Sex Scenes With Emma Stone Are ‘Shameless’ And ‘Intrinsic Part’, Says Director

One of the most interesting films of 2023 (in Brazil, however, it only hits theaters on February 1, 2024), poor creatures promises sex scenes with Emma Stone “shameless,” according to the director Yorgos Lanthimoswhich still spoke to the essence of the original book.

The film is based on the book of the same name written by Alasdair Gray and released in 1992. The synopsis reads: “The young Bella Baxter is brought back to life by the scientist Dr Godwin Baxter. Wanting to see more of the world, she runs away with a lawyer and travels across continents. Freed from the prejudices of her time, Bella demands equality and liberation.”

In the 80th annual edition of the Venice International Film Festival in 2023, according to information from the Varietythe filmmaker spoke about the posture of stone during the preparation and filming of these intimate scenes of poor creatures.

“It’s a shame that Emma can’t be here to say more about this, because I’m not supposed to be talking about it,” he said. The actress was not present at the event due to the strike of actors and screenwriters in hollywood, which prevents these categories from promoting their respective projects. “Above all, it’s important to understand that sex is an intrinsic part of the original book.”

The character has within her a freedom that encompasses everything, including sexuality.

“It was important for me to make a film that didn’t shy away from sex, because that would be completely betraying my protagonist,” he explained. Yorgos Lanthimos. “I had to trust Emma to not be ashamed of her own body, of her nudity, of engaging in that kind of scene… and she understood that immediately.”

Then, the director spoke about the partnership between the two, who collaborated on four projects: “At this point, we know how to communicate very well, so when I tried to say something about the sex scenes, she would say: ‘Yes, of course, it is what Bella would do, and we’re going to act that out.'”

Finally, Lanthimos praised someone else’s work on the film: Elle McAlpine, intimacy coordinator. “At first, it was kind of intimidating as a filmmaker to have someone else running the set. But it’s like anything else: if you have someone really good by your side, it’s great,” she said. “I noticed that she made the process easier for everyone.”