Olivia Wilde says Gen Z wants to see less sex in movies and TV because they “don’t want to see anything that’s not real anymore.” According to a UCLA study, nearly half (48.4%) of Gen Z believe there is “too much sex and sexual content on TV and movies.”
“I think Gen Z is pretty smart…For a long time, the way sex was portrayed in movies wasn’t very realistic,” Wilde said at the film’s Sundance premiere. “So there’s a movement towards authenticity right now, and that’s a very good thing. So I decided to interpret that statistic as perhaps Gen Z saying, ‘I don’t want to see anything that’s not authentic anymore. I want to see authentic relationships, and I want to have things that feel more authentic.’ So I like it. ”
Wilde continued, “This movie is an incredibly irreverent and playful look at this part of the sexual revolution of youth. The whole idea is to try things, live your life, experiment, flip out and get back up. Sex is used as a metaphor for something that really applies to everyone’s experience. You’re going to go through life, so you should be very open to what it can be like to experience.”
“I Want Your Sex” co-star Mason Gooding agreed with Wilde’s sentiments in an interview at Variety Studio presented by Audible, saying, “This is the real thing, and the same real thing that they’re seeing on screen. “It’s important to see that the depiction of[sex scenes]so far has been hot and heavy, as if it had to be a passionate, cathartic climax, whereas real sex is often accompanied by awkward empathy and tension.”
The film centers on a modern artist who corrupts his young assistant and becomes his sexual master. Cast member Chase Sui Wonders added that he hopes “I Want Your Sex” will “give Gen Z exposure therapy about their sexual experiences and inspire them to go out and have sex.”
Greg Araki said that “I Want Your Sex” was the first film he shot with an intimacy coordinator. The staff worked with Yehuda Duenias, who previously served as intimacy coordinator on projects such as HBO’s “Westworld” and Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon.”
“My sense is that when actors have a really good structure for how they create these scenes, they can take their roles further,” Dueñas told Variety at the film’s premiere. “We put a lot of comfort and boundaries in our activities, but within that structure they can really work on it. They don’t have to worry about the technical things that you have to worry about.”
Wilde added about the profession: “Everyone on set feels really safe and really relaxed. We had a great intimacy coordinator, he’s the best in the business. He has a way of making the whole thing feel like a dance. And that playfulness should make it fun for everyone. The evolution of people feeling safe on set and having more opportunities to have fun is a good thing.”
