Seth Rogen Shares Why He Kept Thanking Penélope Cruz During Sex Scenes

Jennifer Lawrence

When it comes to onscreen nudity, the Silver Linings Playbook actress has found that her mindset has shifted over the years. Indeed, when she filmed her first nude scene in 2018’s Red Sparrow, Jennifer was initially very uncomfortable with the experience. 

“Red Sparrow really scared the hell out of me because I get nude,” she told Vanity Fair at the time. “I tried to do the movie without nudity but realized it just wouldn’t be right to put the character through something that I, myself, am not willing to go through.”

But when it came time to film sex scenes opposite Robert Pattinson in 2025’s Die My Love, she was “not sensitive” about baring it all. 

"I don't care about nudity,” she shared during a screening of the film. "I wanted [director] Lynne [Ramsay] to have total freedom artistically."

John Cena

John shared a behind-the-scenes look into his sex scene with Amy Schumer in 2015's Trainwreck.

"There is nothing intimate about it," he said on an episode of Club Shay Shay in August 2024. "Nothing. So, like, it's really embarrassing."

Luckily, John had a very understanding costar.

"Amy is an angel," he continued. "She made the environment so comfortable, and then when I got the part, eventually they were like, 'Yeah, it's a sex scene and we want you to do elaborate and crazy stunt sex, and all those lines you had? We're probably not going to use them, we're just going to do this stunt sex scene.'"

Jessica Alba

The Fantastic Four alum recalled feeling incredibly uncomfortable when she filmed a scene in the 2005 movie in which her character Sue Storm appeared naked over a bridge.

“I thought that was awful,” Jessica shared in 2025. “It was very humiliating in real life."

She added, "I grew up with a pretty conservative family, and I am a pretty modest person. I dreaded that scene for weeks. I have a lot of whiplash from those days.”

George Clooney

While the Ocean’s Eleven star had his fair share of movie romances, George revealed that after a conversation with wife Amal Clooney he was no longer interested in kissing women on screen. 

“I’ve been trying to go the route Paul Newman did. ‘OK, well, I'm not kissing a girl any more,’” he told the Daily Mail in 2025. “When I turned 60, I had a conversation with my wife. I said, ‘Look, I can still play basketball with the boys. I play with 25-year-old guys.’”

“‘I can still hang, I'm in shape,’” he added. “’But in 25 years, I'm 85 years old. It doesn't matter how many granola bars you eat, that's a real number.’”

Kate Winslet

The Titanic actress has never shied away when it comes to sharing just how strange shooting sex scenes can be. 

“Those scenes are really awkward,” Kate told E! News in 2017. “It doesn't matter which way you look at it.” 

Still, after having filmed many of them over the years, she felt as though she’s become a bit of a pro as she imitated herself on set, “‘Ok, everyone, this is how it's going to be.’”

Phoebe Dynevor

While Bridgerton is known for its steamy love scenes, according to the show's star, there’s nothing truly sexy about filming the scenes, especially as they utilized an intimacy coordinator.

"It really was like shooting a stunt, it looked real, but we've got padding on," Phoebe told Harper’s Bazaar in 2021. "The angles are very … I mean, I've shot intimacy scenes before in the past without any of that. And I can't believe really how new this all is, because it just changed the game.”

The Fair Play alum added that she and costar Regé-Jean Page “felt super safe” after rehearsals, noting that once they got to set, “We already knew exactly what we're doing. We'd blocked it all so specifically. I knew exactly where his hand was going to go at what point. So it just meant that there wasn't any room for a director to go, ‘Oh, I want to see this now.’”

Michael Sheen

The Masters of Sex star had a similar approach when it came to sex scenes with co-star Lizzy Caplan. 

“Often when it comes to sex scenes, it can be gray area, people feel uncomfortable talking about it directly,” Michael shared with The Wrap in 2015. “Early on, we were very clear that there couldn’t be any gray areas, that we were going to be doing that so much that everything had to be talked through beforehand.”

He and his costar essentially put together a “checklist” to make sure that nothing was left undiscussed before the day of filming. 

“You make sure everyone on paper is clear what will be happening physically—what you’ll be wearing. You talk it through with wardrobe, hair and makeup so on the day nothing is a surprise,” Michael continued. “And when we shoot, it’s an absolutely closed set. There’s someone ready to give you something to put on immediately as soon as they yell, ‘Cut.’ No one is allowed to wander past the monitors.”

Penn Badgley

While the You actor was well aware that the show was predicated on him filming a number of more intimate scenes, Penn admitted that he asked the show’s creator Sera Gamble if he could cut down on the number he was doing. 

“This was actually a decision I had made before I took the show,” Penn shared on the Podcrushed podcast in 2023. “I don't think I've ever mentioned it publicly, but one of the main things is, ‘Do I want to put myself back on a career path where I'm always [the] romantic lead?’”

The decision was also tied to his relationship with wife Domino Kirke, with Penn adding, "Fidelity in every relationship—especially in a marriage—is important to me."

"It got to a point where I don't want to do that,” he continued. “So I said to Sera, like, 'My desire would be zero, to go from 100 to zero.’”

Kirsten Dunst

The Oscar nominee has never been a fan of filming sex scenes, telling E! News in 2017, “I don't like it. To be honest, I'm like, 'Let's get this over with as fast as possible.'"

In fact, one of the reasons Kirsten—who is married to Jesse Plemons—has found she prefers working with female directors like Sofia Coppola stems from her experience working with male directors who want “to shoot it from every angle.”

Kirsten explained, “At least Sofia's like, 'We're going to get this done quick, we're just gonna shoot it here, we'll do three takes, be done.'"

Dakota Johnson

The Fifty Shades of Grey alum has admitted to being surprisingly comfortable filming sex scenes, joking that she never has to mentally prepare for them. 

“I’m, like, always psyched up for sex,” Dakota shared on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast in 2025, explaining how she approaches them from her character’s point of view. “First, it depends on who the character is and who the character’s supposed to be to the audience.”

“Is she like a super idolized hot girl? Is she a housewife? Is she lonely? Is she scared? Is she conservative?” she mused. “So that’s obviously character work.” 

And it helped that her mom Melanie Griffith raised Dakota to “be really proud of my body and love my body.”

“I’ve always felt so grateful for that,” she added, “especially in my work because I can use it and it feels real.”