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Season seven, episode 11 of "Outlander" saw the Starz drama take on one of the most-anticipated — and controversial — storylines from the book series written by Diana Gabaldon.
After learning in the previous episode that the ship Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) was traveling on had sunk, Claire Fraser (Caitríona Balfe) and Lord John Grey (David Berry) were left grief-stricken.
When audiences saw them next, the pair hastily married to stop the English army from arresting Claire for espionage.
While their marriage was meant to be entirely platonic — given John's sexuality and Claire's unending love for Jamie — the two unexpectedly ended up consummating their marriage while in a haze of despair, drunkenness, and delirium while both imagining that the other is their beloved Jamie.
Speaking to Business Insider, Berry reflected on the experience of shooting his first sex scene for "Outlander" and the challenges that came with it.
"This was a very big moment for me as an actor because it's the first time that I was called upon to do sort of an 'Outlander' intimate scene," Berry said, adding that it "was a moment I was afraid of but also looking forward to."
Berry's trepidation at taking on the scene is understandable. While not the most shocking scene in "Outlander" — the show has long been serving up challenging scenes — it is one particularly unpopular with fans given its implications for Jamie and Claire's romance.
But Berry said that despite his concerns, he went into the storyline with enthusiasm.
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"I think as someone who's been on the show for eight years and has sometimes felt like I've been on the bench, this was a great opportunity for me to step up my game," Berry said.
"There was a lot of excitement, on my behalf, to portray something so challenging and weird and just kind of solve that mystery of how and why these characters do what they do," he continued, adding: "It's a dangerous moment for the show because it really tests the credulity of the audience to believe that these characters would do such a thing."
"You still have to ground it in some element of truth," he added.
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The actor said it was no easy feat to nail the scene in a way that would communicate his and Balfe's characters' shared trauma, corporeal urges, and the humanity behind their decision.
The pair prepared for the sequence with Vanessa Coffey, who has worked as an intimacy coordinator on the show since season six.
But preparation began long before even getting to set.
"Cait and I spent some time just doing some drama school kind of nerdy stuff, just improvising through the scene to find that stuff that isn't spoken about," Berry recalled.
"Of course, everyone had different ideas about how it should be depicted, and having Vanessa there to arbitrate all that was was really great," he continued. "She had a really tough job because it was not like any other love scene that's been depicted on the show."
Due to its unique, unconventional nature, Berry said he would always look back on the scene and wonder if they could have done it differently.
"It's one of those moments in which I'll always look back and think, 'Could we have done more?' Because there are so many different ways to do it," he said, adding that he thought they "gave it a good crack."
"I was willing to push it as far as needed to go," he continued. "There were ideas about how far we should push it, of course, and questions like 'Do audiences really want to see what John and Claire get on heavy?' and I still don't know the answer."
