Celebrity3 min(s) read
Published 13:06 17 Jul 2026 GMT
Aubrey Plaza revealed an intimate scene she had to film, which ended up feeling like a "nightmare" after the director's instructions.
The White Lotus actress has featured in various titles over the years, but one in 2013 stands out to her for all the wrong reasons.
It's one of her earlier film features, as she played lead Brandy Klark in the romantic comedy The To-Do List.
The film would feature the first sex scene she'd ever appeared in, and upon reflection, she described it as the "weirdest acting job" she had ever done at the time.
When it comes to unsimulated sex scenes, there have been many arguments from both sides on whether they are necessary.
Regular films will usually have fake sex scenes if needs be, employing intimacy coordinators and getting make-up crews to construct modesty garments and more to make the scene believable.
But some directors have a particular vision, which can put actors in an awkward position.
In The To-Do List, Brandy, a recent high school graduate, sets out to have sex with her crush Rusty (Scott Porter) by the end of the summer.
As expected, it isn't as straightforward as it seems, as Brandy runs in to a number of obstacles, but there is one scene which sticks out to Plaza in particular.
The scene in question involves her character enjoying a moment of self-pleasure, as she admitted to Conan O'Brien on his talk show that she was confused after seeing the direction in the script.
Apparently, the script said "Brandy masturbates," and Plaza recalled: "In my head I envisioned a nice scene where you just see my hand slowly go out of frame."
But she said this wasn't the case, explaining: "That's what I thought I was going into, but then 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, ya know, the crew guys.
"And then I went and touched myself. I thought I was doing one thing and when I showed up it was a whole different thing, it was a full body shot."
Plaza admitted: "I thought I was doing one thing and when I showed up it was a whole different thing, it was a full body shot and I asked the director 'what should I do' and she said 'masturbate like it says in the script'."
She admitted that this scene was "the most nerve-racking" to film.
Plaza didn't have the best time filming the intimate scene, telling the New York Times: "It was a nightmare.
"I was like, 'this is the weirdest acting job I’ve ever had in my life'."
But The To Do List was released 13 years ago, so it's safe to say that she's had other weird acting jobs since then.
The film's director Maggie Carey later praised Plaza, saying she was "so brave" to give the trickier scenes in the film a go.
Speaking to Screen Slam, she explained: "And she had no problem putting herself in these very awkward situations. But, you know, it's played for comedy and she just nailed it.
"It was just so fun to work with her, yeah, she's very, err, gutsy."
3 min(s) read
.webp_lli6Ty?tr=cr-74.9.445.380,f-webp,q-70,w-1024)
3 min(s) read
.webp_QQJmGo?tr=cr-345.0.1535.1190,f-webp,q-70,w-1024)
2 min(s) read
.webp_SmgFsc?tr=cr-292.0.1244.952,f-webp,q-70,w-1024)
celebrity3 min(s) read
film & tv3 min(s) read
film & tv2 min(s) read
Published 11:46 14 Aug 2025 GMT
Aubrey Plaza was once asked to perform an unsimulated sex scene for a movie, and she has since spoken out about the "nightmare".
The actress, now 41, starred in the 2013 raunchy coming-of-age comedy The To Do List as Brandy Klark, a straight-A student who sets out to tackle a list of sexual experiences before heading to college.
Among them was a moment of self-pleasure — a scene Plaza thought would be simulated.
Alongside an intimacy director, performers are usually equipped with modesty barriers, prosthetics or the camera doesn't show what is actually happening and the sexual act is implied.
Much to her surprise, this wasn't actually the case.
Speaking to Conan O’Brien back when the film was released, Plaza admitted she had envisioned something far tamer: “In my head, I envisioned a nice scene where you see my hand slowly go out of frame.”
Instead, she arrived on set to find the camera mounted above her bed, wearing just underwear and a Clinton T-shirt, surrounded by crew members.
“There were a bunch of old men smoking, you know, the crew guys,” she joked, clarifying they weren’t actually smoking — that’s just how she remembers it.
Plaza recalled asking director Maggie Carey what exactly she was supposed to do. “I asked the director, ‘What should I do?’ And she said, ‘Masturbate, like it says in the script.’” The actress summed it up bluntly: “Then I went and touched myself.”
What she expected to be a discreet moment ended up being, in her words, “a full-body shot.”
Looking back, she told Oregon Live that the masturbation scene was “the most nerve-racking” part of filming. “Just because in my head I thought, oh, we’ll probably shoot this in a way where I don’t really have to really do it.”
Plaza later told The Sunday Times the experience was “the weirdest acting job I’ve ever had in my life,” but praised Carey for being “sensitive to things that maybe a male director wouldn’t be sensitive to.”
She also referred to the scene as a "nightmare".
Carey, for her part, described Plaza as “game for anything” and someone who always prioritized comedy over vanity.
It's a good thing that Plaza could see the funny side of this - others might have been pretty uncomfortable.
Published 09:11 08 Apr 2023 GMT
Aubrey Plaza has opened up about an incident where, according to her, a movie director asked her to perform a sexual act for real as opposed to simulating it.
Movies can sometimes call for actors to portray intimate, private moments on screen and it is becoming more of a norm to have intimacy directors on set that'll ensure everything is handled appropriately and respectfully.
In 2013, Plaza - now 41 - was shooting a movie called The To Do List, where the Parks and Recreation actress played Brandy, who aced every subject in school except for sexual education, so she makes a list that'll give her more knowledge and experience.
An unearthed clip of Plaza talking about the movie with Conan O'Brien in 2013 has reemerged following her performance in The White Lotus, and she made some pretty shocking claims.
Aubrey Plaza in The To Do List (2013). Credit: LANDMARK MEDIA / AlamyAlongside an intimacy director, performers are usually equipped with modesty barriers, prosthetics or the camera doesn't show what is actually happening and the sexual act is implied.
So when the 41-year-old arrived on set she was fairly shocked when the director of the movie, Maggie Carey, asked her to perform the act for real.
During the scene, Plaza was to lie on her back in bed and simulate the act of masturbating, though it seems that the actress and the director had different ideas as to how the scene would play out.
"In my head, I envisioned a nice scene where you see my hand slowly go out of frame," Plaza told Conan who made light of the experience.
Plaza continued: "That's what I thought I was going into, but then 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, ya know, the crew guys."
She clarified that the men weren't actually smoking but in her memory of the bizarre day on set, that is how she remembers it.
The actress then rather candidly explained that with the camera mounted above her and a room full of men watching: "Then I went and touched myself."
She had reached out to Carey before the cameras started rolling to get clarification of what was expected of her from the scene.
"I asked the director, 'What should I do?' And she said, 'Masturbate, like it says in the script'," Plaza explained as the audience laughed at the retelling of the story.
The clip emerged after Plaza's performance in The White Lotus. Credit: Jeffrey Mayer / Alamy
Plaza spoke to Oregon Live in 2013 where she further explained: "Looking back on it, I feel like the masturbating scene was a little bit the most nerve-racking. Just because in my head I thought, oh, we'll probably shoot this in a way where I don't really have to really do it."
We're glad that Plaza can see the light side of things, as it sounds like it could have been a pretty shocking experience for others!
Published 14:55 05 Jan 2026 GMT
Aubrey Plaza has revealed the shocking sex act she was instructed to carry out 'for real' by a director while shooting a movie.
Portraying intimate, private moments on screen is often part and parcel of an actor's job - though some stars prefer not to agree to roles which involve sex scenes out of personal preference.
These days, it's also becoming more of a norm to have intimacy directors on set to ensure everything is handled appropriately and respectfully, and that all participants are comfortable with what's being asked of them and how it's being shot.
Back in 2013, Plaza - now 41 - was shooting a movie called The To Do List, where the Parks and Recreation actress played Brandy Klark, who aces every subject in school except for sexual education, so she makes a list that'll give her more knowledge and experience.
An unearthed clip of the White Lotus star talking about the movie with Conan O'Brien in 2013 reemerged recently, and in it she made some pretty shocking claims.
She alleged that when she arrived on set to shoot a scene of her character masturbating, the director, Maggie Carey, asked her to perform the act for real rather than just simulating it as you'd expect.
During the scene, Plaza was to lie on her back in bed and simulate the act of masturbating, though it seems that the actress and the director had different ideas as to how the scene would play out.
"In my head, I envisioned a nice scene where you see my hand slowly go out of frame," Plaza told Conan who made light of the experience.
Plaza continued: "That's what I thought I was going into, but then 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, ya know, the crew guys."
She clarified that the men weren't actually smoking but in her memory of the bizarre day on set, that is how she remembers it.
The actress then rather candidly explained that with the camera mounted above her and a room full of men watching: "Then I went and touched myself."
She had reached out to Carey before the cameras started rolling to get clarification of what was expected of her from the scene.
"I asked the director, 'What should I do?' And she said, 'Masturbate, like it says in the script'," Plaza explained as the audience laughed at the retelling of the story.
Plaza spoke to Oregon Live in 2013 where she further explained: "Looking back on it, I feel like the masturbating scene was a little bit the most nerve-racking. Just because in my head I thought, oh, we'll probably shoot this in a way where I don't really have to really do it."
"But then when we did it and I was like, 'Oh no, we're going to shoot it where I do it'."
Published 17:12 05 Jan 2026 GMT
Hollywood loves a good illusion — green screens, stunt doubles, and romantic leads who can barely stand each other off-camera.
But every now and then, a film decides to drop the act entirely and go full method, pushing boundaries in ways that would make even the most seasoned intimacy coordinators blush.
Yes, we're talking about those scenes — the ones where the moaning isn't just acting, and the chemistry is a little too convincing.
Over the course of cinema history, there have been a number of US A-list celebrities who have gone the full distance, unsimulated, warts-and-all, and performed the acts themselves on screen.
Let's get into it.
Known for her deadpan humor, Aubrey Plaza shocked fans with her explicit scene in The To Do List. On Conan, she explained how things escalated quickly once she read the stage directions.
"In my head, I envisioned a nice scene where you just see my hand slowly go out of frame," she said.
"I thought I was doing one thing and when I showed up it was a whole different thing, it was a full body shot and I asked the director 'what should I do' and she said 'masturbate like it says in the script'".
In Antichrist, directed by Lars von Trier, the sex was definitely real - but not by the lead actors.
Body doubles stood in for Dafoe and Gainsbourg.
Von Trier said Dafoe was 'too well endowed' and that showing him would confuse audiences.
Dafoe later clarified: "Charlotte and I are both married and I’m not sure everybody would be cool with that."
In one of the most talked-about scenes of her career, Chloë Sevigny performed unsimulated oral sex on Vincent Gallo in The Brown Bunny.
In a 2010 interview, she opened up about the complicated emotions surrounding the film.
"There are a lot of emotions," she said. "I'll probably have to go to therapy at some point. But I love Vincent. The film is tragic and beautiful, and I'm proud of it and my performance.
"I'm sad that people think one way of the movie, but what can you do?
"I've done many explicit sex scenes, but I'm not that interested in doing any more.
"I'm more self-aware now and wouldn't be able to be as free, so why even do it?"
Here's one more for good measure.
This Lars von Trier project had everyone buzzing with its promise of real sex on screen. Shia LaBeouf even said the film had a disclaimer that “basically says we're doing it for real.”
But in the end, body doubles handled the actual sex, with the footage digitally combined in post-production.
Producer Louise Vesth explained: "We shot the actors pretending to have sex and then had the body doubles, who really did have sex, and in post (production) we will digital-impose the two.
"So above the waist it will be the star, and then below the waist it will be the doubles."
Published 15:30 06 Mar 2026 GMT
In a 2016 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Aubrey Plaza shared some unforgettable behind-the-scenes stories from her time filming Dirty Grandpa with Robert De Niro. The film, which saw Plaza playing a young, sex-obsessed college coed who becomes infatuated with De Niro’s character, a mischievous grandfather, provided some of the most hilarious moments of her career.
Plaza, who was 31 at the time, spoke about filming a graphic sex scene with De Niro, who was 73. She described how the scene, which took nearly ten hours to shoot, was anything but predictable. Plaza admitted that the details were far from rehearsed, making for some unplanned moments during the shoot.
During her chat with Jimmy Kimmel, Plaza recalled that the scene wasn’t fully scripted, leading to a number of surprises on set. “There was a lot of interesting stuff that went down, you know,” she said. The director would frequently pull her aside to offer new instructions for each take. Some of these directions worked, but others didn’t quite land as expected.
“I’d try to get in there and suck on his nipples, and he was like batting me away, and I didn’t know if it was in character or not,” Plaza laughed. After one take, the director let her know, “Bob does not like his nipple area paid attention to,” which only added to the awkwardness. Plaza joked, "Great, now he thinks that I wanted to do that."
What surprised Plaza the most was discovering that it was De Niro who was nervous to work with her. She shared, “I heard from my agent, who had spoken to his agent that he was legitimately scared of me.” She thought his apprehension was likely more about her character, a sex-crazed college student, than her personally. “Every time I was around him, it was right before we started shooting, so I would be all over him, and I think I really freaked him out,” she said.
Despite the tension, Plaza and De Niro managed to have fun while filming, with Plaza joking about the challenges of working with the veteran actor.
Dirty Grandpa was released on January 22, 2016, bringing these memorable moments to the big screen.
.webp_QQJmGo?tr=cr-345.0.1535.1190,f-webp,q-70,w-100)
.webp_lli6Ty?tr=cr-74.9.445.380,f-webp,q-70,w-100)
.webp_SmgFsc?tr=cr-292.0.1244.952,f-webp,q-70,w-100)