Conversation with Friends star says she had no problem with sex scenes

The 23-year-old plays Frances, a Trinity College student in the upcoming TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s book of the same name.

Opening up about filming sex scenes, she said they discussed their scenes with an intimacy co-ordinator.

“There’s a brilliant system in place for it, where [intimacy coordinator Ita O’Brien] will come into a rehearsal with us,” she told Elle.

“We’ll discuss the scene: What’s the trajectory, and what’s the quality of intimacy? And why is it happening? It’s a continuation of dialogue, in a sense.”

“It just becomes physical. So, from the get-go, [sex scenes] were presented to us as you would do a stunt and you’d choreograph that,” she explained.

“We’d rehearse it loads. Ita would come in and suggest—Lenny would always talk about them as ‘shapes,’ making different ‘shapes’.”

“She would try out different ones, and then we’d copy her.”

Her co-star, Joe Alwyn, who plays Nick shared her sentiment.

“[Director Lenny Abrahamson] always spoke about them as extensions of conversations.”

“They weren’t just there for the sake of it,” he continued.

“Obviously, they’re funny and awkward things at the beginning. But once you get over that and you’re working with people you trust—and Lenny’s in the room, and Lenny is hilarious. You would want him on set in any scene.”

Conversations With Friends is set to be a 12-part series that will premiere on BBC3 and BBC iPlayer on Sunday May 15 2022.