Rob Lowe Says One Scene Used to Be a Staple of Movie Scripts

Rob Lowe said nobody has sex scenes in movies anymore, and actors who do are praised for being brave. He asserted it was different “back in the day” when the sex scene was a staple of Hollywood screenplays.

Sex and the City star Kristin Davis was shocked to find out that sex scenes used to be a requirement in movie scripts. Rob Lowe revealed this while recalling his experience filming Masquerade, 1988’s romance thriller mystery. It received mixed reviews and flopped at the box office; Lowe also said the studio dropped the film for being too sexy. He mused over how Hollywood’s approach to sex scenes has shifted, especially now that intimacy coordinators are involved behind the scenes. “Nobody has sex scenes in movies anymore,” Lowe asserted, citing films like Babygirl is now a rarity.

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Lowe said actors are now praised for doing sex scenes that are optional and strictly moderated. “They’re like, ‘It’s so brave. She’s so brave,'” he asserted, referring to Nicole Kidman’s performance in Babygirl. “She’s brave because she has a sex scene? Like, that’s brave now. In our day, it was required.” Both Lowe and Kidman are no strangers to steamy sequences; Lowe shared an intimate moment with Demi Moore in About Last Night, and Kidman did a difficult sex scene in Dogville. Lowe explained that was the norm back in the day, so much so that actors always expected it in the screenplay.

‘You Didn’t Have To Read The Whole Script’

“There was the page 73 rule,” Lowe continued. “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 because that middle second act… what do you do? It’s the toughest sledding in storytelling so they Blue Lagoon it. But now, it’s so brave.”

Intimacy coordinators have changed actors’ attitude toward sex scenes, though some (like Sean Bean, Michael Caine, and Michael Douglas) have reservations; Mikey Madison chose not to have an intimacy coordinator in Anora, and Kim Basinger recently balked at the idea of having to hire a sex scene coach.

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Lowe said it’s all fair game, but the recent shift is ultimately empowering for actors. “I always feel, like, out of chaos comes opportunity,” he added. “My attitude is always you make the most of it [and] disruption is actually a great time to build new things. If you can be one of the nimble ones and you could be one of the forward-thinking ones … not entrenched and not trying to recreate yesterday but try to imagine tomorrow, it’s your time.”

Lowe’s impressive career includes recurring roles in TV’s The West Wing, Brothers & Sisters, Parks and Recreation, Unstable, and 9-1-1: Lone Star, which is now available to stream on Hulu.

Source: Literally! with Rob Lowe via YouTube

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