This marked the first time she ever filmed a sex scene in a movie

Aubrey Plaza Opens Up About Her Awkward Experience Filming First Sex Scene

Aubrey Plaza opened up about shooting a real sex scene for a movie, and from the way she describes it, she didn’t seem too eager to ever go through something like that again.

Throughout her career, Plaza has taken on a wide range of roles in both film and television. Some of her most recognized work includes Parks and Recreation, Agatha All Along, and the critically acclaimed series The White Lotus.

Another film credit on her résumé is the 2013 comedy The To Do List, which featured a star-studded cast including Bill Hader, Rachel Bilson, Andy Samberg, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, best known for his role in Superbad.

In this X-rated comedy, Plaza played the character Brandy Klark, who explores her sexuality in various ways. One scene in particular involves Brandy pleasuring herself.

For Plaza, this was her very first time filming a sex scene, and she was surprised to find out that the script required her to actually act it out on screen.

Plaza didn’t hold back in describing the experience as a complete ‘nightmare’. In an interview with The Sunday Times, where she opened up about her role in the provocative comedy, she said: “I was like, this is the weirdest acting job I’ve ever had in my life.”

She did, however, have high praise for director Maggie Carey, calling her sensitive to nuances that a male director might not be as tuned in to.

Carey, on the other hand, had nothing but kind words for Plaza. She said the actress was always up for a challenge and often put humor ahead of any concerns about how she looked on screen.

Plaza later shared more about shooting the scene during an appearance on Conan O’Brien’s show. She recalled being directly told by Carey to “masturbate, like it says in the script.”

“When I showed up, the camera was mounted on the ceiling, I was in my underwear and a Clinton T-shirt and there were a bunch of old men smoking. You know, the crew guys,” Plaza remembered.

While no one was actually smoking, that’s how she chose to visualize the scene—picturing it in a stylized, almost surreal way.

“Then I went and touched myself,” she added, going on to say: “I thought I was doing one thing and then, when I showed up, it was a whole different thing; it was a full-body shot.”

Even though she might think twice before taking on another scene like that, she doesn’t feel the same hesitation when it comes to the idea of a Parks and Recreation reboot.

“I mean, I will do whatever Amy Poehler wants to do,” she said when asked about the possibility last year.

“I do whatever she does. If she’s in, I’m in. If she’s out, I’m out,” Plaza said when talking about her longtime friendship with Inside Out star Amy Poehler.

Rashida Jones, who also starred in Parks and Recreation, shared a similar view during a separate conversation.

Speaking about getting the old gang back together, Jones said: “Oh, anytime, any day. I mean, we all are still friends, we text. I talk to Amy [Poehler] every day.”

“If there’s a reason and somebody says, ‘Let’s do it’, I think every single one of us would say yes.”