Angela Bassett and Lady Gaga: American Horror Story: Hotel (2015)
When Lady Gaga made her debut in the American Horror Story world, she did it with grace, intelligence, and most of all: Magnetic sexual energy. In E3 of AHS: Hotel, Angela Bassett (Ramona Royale) and Gaga (the Countess) filmed a sex scene that I personally can’t get out of my head. When Meredith Vieira asked Bassett what it was like to be intimate with Gaga, she said: “We get to the set, and by now you can’t be tentative — if you said you’re gonna do this, you gotta just dive right in. [We finished], and [Gaga] walked off and said: ‘I think I’m pregnant — I’m about to have Angela Bassett’s baby!'”
Sabrina Impacciatore and Beatrice Grannò: The White Lotus (2022)
Season 1 of The White Lotus was pretty good, but NOTHING compared to Season 2, mainly because of Sabrina Impacciatore’s (Valentina) and Beatrice Grannò’s (Mia) chemistry. Throughout the season, we slowly saw Valentina coming to terms with her sexuality and eventually feeling comfortable enough to express it. “I was thinking about that moment like the volcano Etna erupting — it’s important, and it’s going to affect [Valentina’s] future,” Impacciatore told Entertainment Weekly. “I remember very well what I felt [while filming], and everything I was feeling was real. I was not acting — I really was feeling it.”
Taraji P. Henson and Michael Ealy: Think Like a Man (2012)
While promoting the rom-com on Sway in the Morning in 2012, Taraji P. Henson described how excited she was to work with Michael Ealy. She told Sway: “The first day on set was the scene where he’s putting chocolate on my thigh — that was the first day! [And] he licked it off — I was like: ‘I need another take!'”
Viola Davis and Billy Brown: How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020)
In the Hollywood Reporter’s roundtable for lead actresses in a drama series, Viola Davis opened up about filming a sex scene with Billy Brown in How to Get Away with Murder Season 1. She tried to honor her craft as an actor as much as possible: “I allowed myself to be uncomfortable — I’m not gonna talk myself out of it,” Davis said. “I’m just a human being at the end of the day, and I’m doing something very private in public. The nerves and the insecurities and [everything] I feel is a part of Annalise. I cannot will her to be made of Teflon before she dives on top of a very hot-looking guy!”
Kathryn Hahn, Owen Teague, and Katie Kershaw: Mrs. Fletcher (2019)
It’s no secret that Kathryn Hahn is a humongous icon in the LGBTQ+ community, so when she filmed a threesome with Owen Teague and Katie Kershaw in the short-lived TV show Mrs. Fletcher, my queer self personally went bananas. There was an intimacy coordinator on set, which initially made Hahn feel nervous because “it was going to feel like an extra voice in a way, but it was not like that at all.” She told Variety: “We knew the partner was taken care of and felt safe, and you could just walk on and feel completely comfortable and good.”
Abbi Jacobson and D’Arcy Carden: A League of Their Own (2022)
With the help of their 15-year friendship, Abbi Jacobson and D’Arcy Carden brought a whole new energy to the 2022 remake of A League of Their Own. Because of their friendship, Jacobson (Carson Shaw) and Carden (Greta Gill) found filming their sex scene in E4 nothing but comfortable. “By the time we got to the heavier sex scenes, I felt way more comfortable than I felt with someone I didn’t know right away,” Jacobson revealed to Glamour. “I felt more uneasy around the 30 other people watching than with D’Arcy.”
Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton: Monster’s Ball (2001)
Halle Berry made history when she became the first Black woman to win a Best Actress Oscar in 2002 for her role as Leticia Musgrove in Monster’s Ball. If you haven’t seen this film, you’ve probably heard about it not only for Berry’s groundbreaking performance but because of the steamy sex scene between her and Billy Bob Thornton.
Rachel Shelley and Alexandra Hedison: The L Word (2006)
Everyone knows The L Word was famous for not only a look inside LGBTQ+ female culture in West Hollywood but also their intense sex scenes. However, the sex scenes weren’t just physical, but emotional too. Rachel Shelley (Helena Peabody) and Alexandra Hedison’s (Dylan) sex scene in Season 3 reflected this mindset. “I think that scene with Alex was the most intimate and the most prolonged scene that I’ve had to do like that, and god, I was glad it was with her,” Shelley told Curve in the 2000s. “She and I got on so well, so I was really glad it was with someone [where] we could look after each other and be very comfortable with one another.”
DeWanda Wise and Ilfenesh Hadera: She’s Gotta Have It (2017–2019)
In the TV adaptation of She’s Gotta Have It (a film Spike Lee originally directed in 1986), there were no intimacy coordinators on set. DeWanda Wise (Nola Darling) took matters into her own hands in Season 2 when she created a contract and vocalized how she wanted her sex scenes to look with acting partner, Ilfenesh Hadera (Opal Gilstrap).
Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara: Carol (2015)
While promoting Carol, Cate Blanchett (Carol) and Rooney Mara (Therese) were constantly asked how their sexual chemistry came about. At BFI London’s Film Festival, Mara said: “It was easy for me to feel chemistry towards Cate [because] my character spent much of the film in awe of this woman, and enamored with her. That was easy for me to embody.”
And: Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly: Bound (1996)
When Gina Gershon (Corky) and Jennifer Tilly (Violet) filmed their infamous sex scene in Bound, it was a groundbreaking moment in Hollywood (it also became a blueprint for how two women sexually expressed themselves in movies and TV shows). Gershon and Tilly gushed how natural and easy it was to film their sex scene, one that is so magnifying and just…whew. “Gina is the coolest person to ever do a love scene with — she was playful,” Tilly said in a 2019 interview. “I would be like: ‘Can you put your hand here so my cellulite doesn’t show? Can you prop my breast to make it look a little more plump?'”
Let’s flip the script (pun intended) a little bit, folks: What’s a movie/TV sex scene that’s totally underrated, and people don’t talk about enough? Tell us which one (and WHY you think it’s underrated) in the comments below.