Scarlett Johansson said the process of filming the verbal sex scene in "Her" with Joaquin Phoenix was "gross" on the Armchair Expert podcast.
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Scarlett Johansson said the process of filming the verbal sex scene in "Her" was "gross" on a recent episode of the "Armchair Expert" podcast.
Protagonist Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) discovers, uses, befriends, and eventually falls in love with Samantha, the artificially intelligent assistant in his new operating system, in the 2013 film by Spike Jonze. Johansson played Samantha, who was only present on screen through her voice.
Once they begin dating, they become intimate through a verbal sexual encounter where Samantha pretends to be human. The screen fades to black during the intense scene.
Johansson is not fond of her own voice, like many people. "You don't want to hear your voice ever," she told podcast hosts Dax Shepard and Monica Padman while appearing on Monday's episode.
Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
"You definitely don't want to hear what you sound like having an orgasm. You definitely don't want to hear what you sound like having a fake orgasm — ew," she continued.
"It's so gross," she added. "It was so bizarre."
Johansson said after Phoenix filmed his portion separately, they filmed the scene together and had to be aware of the timing of the sounds they were making to get the scene to flow correctly.
According to Johansson, Phoenix actually had to leave the room for a bit while filming that scene. "We tried to get through one take and he was, like, losing it," she said. "He left the studio. He needed a break."
The cringeworthy coitus session was worth the embarrassment. The film won an Academy Award for best writing for an original screenplay and was also nominated for best picture at the 86th Academy Awards.
See the full conversation below.
