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Actress Margo Stilley has spoken about her decision to appear in 9 Songs, the controversial 2004 film that became famous for featuring unsimulated sex scenes.
Stilley, who played American exchange student Lisa, starred opposite Kieran O’Brien, who portrayed a British scientist with whom she had an intense relationship.
The film attracted significant controversy because of its unusually explicit content and divided audiences and critics, having also prompted backlash for the sexual content, with some viewers finding it overly explicit.
Despite the backlash, Stilley has continued to defend her decision to take the role.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner in 2008, she recalled the hostility surrounding the movie's release, saying: “People were really angry.”
She claimed that some people went as far as calling her offensive names during press conferences.
When questioned about why she had agreed to appear in such scenes, Stilley responded: “I didn’t invent sex! There’s a huge sex industry out there that’s worth billions.”
She also rejected suggestions that director Michael Winterbottom had taken advantage of her because she was inexperienced as an actress at the time.
“People ask me if I felt that [director] Michael Winterbottom took advantage of me because I hadn’t acted before, but they forget that I developed the character,” she said.
Stilley admitted that she was surprised by how strongly audiences reacted to both the movie and her performance.
“I was genuinely shocked by the response to the film – and especially to my role, as I was not at all like my character Lisa,” she explained.
The actress criticized the one-dimensional view some may have of the film, and maintained that 9 Songs was not designed simply as pornography, but rather as an artistic exploration of intimacy and relationships.
She also rejected the suggestion that appearing in such an explicit movie had restricted her career, saying: “I don’t get seen only for roles as women who have sex a lot.”
Following 9 Songs, Stilley went on to appear alongside Simon Pegg in How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.
She later worked with Cillian Murphy and Sienna Miller on Hippie Hippie Shake.
Before moving into acting, Stilley worked as a model and moved to Italy after leaving college.
She eventually relocated to London, where she secured the 9 Songs role after being introduced to the casting team through an Israeli advertisement.
The film divided critics, and continues to divide public opinion on whether it is justified or not.
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Margo Stilley, the actress best known for her role in the controversial 2004 film 9 Songs, has opened up about her decision to perform unsimulated sex scenes in the movie, despite later requesting that her name be removed from the credits.
Stilley, now 42, played the female lead, Lisa, in the film, which gained notoriety for featuring real sexual intercourse and graphic scenes that pushed the boundaries of mainstream cinema.
9 Songs, which is directed by Michael Winterbottom, follows the relationship between an American exchange student, Lisa, and a British scientist, Matt (played by Kieran O’Brien).
The film was set against the vibrant backdrop of live rock concerts and became controversial due to its raw and unsimulated sexual content, including oral sex and an ejaculation scene.
Despite the movie's bold approach, Stilley expressed a desire to remain anonymous following its release. However, her identity was soon revealed, and she went on to pursue a career in both film and television.
In the years since, Stilley has been steadfast in defending her performance and has insisted that she never did anything "crazy".
“It wasn’t shocking,” she remarked, per The Guardian. “If you know you’re going to watch a film like this, it’s not abrasive. It’s just normal sex that everyone has, not crazy stuff. I'm surprised [by the controversy], and even more by the fact that I've brought most of it on myself."
In a 2008 interview with The Irish Examiner, Stilley reflected on the harsh backlash she faced after the film’s release.
“When I did press conferences, people would shout abuse at me,” she recalled, revealing that she was called a “wh**e” and a “sl*t” because of the explicit scenes. “I didn’t invent sex! There’s a huge sex industry out there worth billions,” she retorted.
At the time of filming, Stilley was just 21, and she clarified that despite the controversies, she never felt taken advantage of by the director.
“People ask me if I felt that [director] Michael Winterbottom took advantage of me because I hadn’t acted before, but they forget that I developed the character,” she said. "I am not at all like my character Lisa, and I was genuinely shocked by the reaction to the film and, particularly, to my role in it."
Despite 9 Songs receiving a low 23% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Stilley went on to build a diverse career, appearing in projects like How to Lose Friends & Alienate People alongside Megan Fox and Gillian Anderson, and in The Trip, which stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon.
Her acting career has not been limited to roles defined by her past, and she asserted: “I honestly can say it hasn’t affected my career. I don’t get seen only for roles as women who have sex a lot.”
More than two decades after the release of 9 Songs, the 2004 British film often cited as the most sexually explicit mainstream movie ever made in the UK, American actress Margo Stilley says she has no regrets.
The California-born star, now 42, made her feature film debut in 9 Songs, directed by Michael Winterbottom. The film followed the passionate relationship between Lisa, an American exchange student, and Matt (played by Kieran O’Brien), a British scientist she meets at a rock concert.
While 9 Songs premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, it stirred immediate controversy for featuring unsimulated sexual acts between its two leads. Despite the uproar (and a modest 23% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes) Stilley has continued to defend the project as a bold artistic statement about intimacy and connection.
In a 2008 interview with the Irish Independent, Stilley recalled the harsh public reaction she faced after the film’s release. “When I did press conferences, people would shout abuse at me,” she said. “I was called names, a ‘wh***,’ a ‘sl**’, because of the sex scenes.”
But Stilley pushed back against suggestions that she had been exploited by the director or misled because she was a first-time actor. “People forget that I developed the character,” she explained. “The movie was about love and sex. It wasn’t porn. I mean, I had sex with my boyfriend last night and that wasn’t porn, it was just hot sex! 9 Songs was a real film about love and sex, and I wanted to do that film. I’m proud of it.”
Despite the notoriety surrounding her debut, Stilley insists the role didn’t define her career. “I honestly can say it hasn’t affected me,” she told reporters. “I don’t get seen only for roles as women who have sex a lot.”
Following 9 Songs, Stilley continued working steadily in film and television. Her more recent credits include the English-language crime thriller The Host.
In a 2024 interview with LADbible, the actress revealed that her name was accidentally removed from the credits of 9 Songs, a decision she made informally during its private Cannes screenings. “I said, ‘Oh, just put me on as Lisa,’” she recalled. “Then the press got wind of it, and The News of the World even ran a hotline for anyone who had information on who I was. I realized I’d caused quite a ruckus but it turned out to be marketing genius.”
Before acting, Stilley worked as a model, leaving her home in North Carolina to pursue opportunities in Milan before eventually relocating to London. There, a modeling contact helped her land her first on-screen role (in an Israeli advertisement) setting the stage for her unexpected rise to cinematic infamy.
Though 9 Songs remains one of the most controversial films in modern British cinema, Stilley’s reflections today are marked not by regret but by perspective. “It was my first film,” she once said. “And I’m still proud of the work we did.”
An actress has opened up about being "proud" of her real-life sex scenes for a controversial movie.
Margo Stilley, best known for her roles in 14 Days with Victor and The Trip, opened up about her controversial movie, 9 Songs, stating that despite the criticism she received for starring in it, she is glad she did it.
Published in 2004, the movie garnered a lot of attention for its numerous and frankly "boring" sex scenes, as per a reviewer, though people were caught up in the fact that the scenes were real.
At the time, it was dubbed allegedly "without false promise" as the most "sexually explicit [film] in mainstream British cinematic history" as per the Guardian, and with s**t-shaming still very much prevalent in society, Stilley, then-21, was demonized for her on-screen role.
Speaking to the Irish Independent four years after the flick made its debut, she talked about the abuse she'd endured.
"I mean, people were really angry with me," she told the outlet in 2008. "When I did press conferences people would shout abuse at me."
She continued: "You'd think I invented sex! I got told I was a whore and a s**t and how could I do it. And what kind of role model did I think I was giving young women?"
And of course, with her male counterpart receiving little to no criticism for his involvement in the racy scenes, it was obvious that this was yet another societal ploy to continue to oppress talented women.
"I mean, please," she said. "I didn't invent sex! There's a huge sex industry out there that's worth billions. People ask me if I felt that Michael Winterbottom took advantage of me because I hadn't acted before, but they forget that I developed the character.
"I am not at all like my character Lisa, and I was genuinely shocked by the reaction to the film and, particularly, to my role in it," she added.
However, when the interviewer asked the actress what she expected if she was going to "[take] off all her clothes and [have] real-life sex on screen for all of us to see," she hit back: "Oh, come on.
"It was a film about love and sex. It wasn't porn. I mean, I had sex with my boyfriend last night and that wasn't porn. It was just hot sex! 9 Songs was a real film about love and sex, and I wanted to do that film and I am proud of it."
While the movie did not cross borders and earn Stilley global superstardom, it did make her more attractive for other upcoming roles in movies, especially for a young star who had not done any previous acting - besides in 9 Songs, of course.
She went on to star in How to Lose Friends and Alienate People alongside Simon Pegg before appearing in Hippie Hippie Shake opposite Cillian Murphy and Sienna Miller.
She told the Irish Independent that despite the sex-driven storyline in 9 Songs, she doesn't feel as though she's been typecast throughout her career.
"No, I honestly can say it hasn't affected my career. I don't get seen only for roles as women who have sex a lot," she confirmed.
An actor who carried out unsimulated sex scenes in one of the most controversial films of the 2000s has spoken out about his past actions.
When it comes to flicks that you can catch in movie theaters, most intimate scenes shown usually involve body doubles or the actors themselves faking the act.
But on very rare occasions, some films will want to explore the act by getting the actors to have sex, for real.
And that's what Kieran O'Brien and Margo Stilley did in the 2004 film 9 Songs, which was written and directed by Michael Winterbottom.
The pair had real sex on camera for the film, which has left viewers questioning why they agreed to it, years on.
Their unsimulated scenes, which explicitly showed their romping sessions, were all 100 percent legitimate - and O'Brien has spoken out about it.
In 9 Songs, the actors played a young couple in an intense relationship which involved going to a lot of concerts, taking drugs, and getting it on between the sheets.
Sex was one of the key parts of the story, so they had to get nude on camera and perform sexually for the benefit of the plot.
This included oral sex, masturbation, ejaculation, and most other sex acts you can think of, with the film shocking film fans at the time, and to this day.
In fact, O'Brien actually ejaculates in one scene, which many believed was a step too far, though the act made him the first and only established British actor to climax on screen for a UK title.
But while some may have regrets, the actors would admit that they didn't care too much about what they showed.
The actor said that a fuss was being made about nothing, claiming he "doesn't believe" anyone who was offended by the film as it is "only sex."
Speaking to The Telegraph in 2004, he explained that he viewed intimate scenes the same way he looked at everything else that was shot, claiming that he was surprised at "how ordinary and natural it was" for them.
He said of his co-star: "I didn't fancy her - I felt protective towards her."
O'Brien told The Guardian in 2005 that he is "really proud" of the film, explaining: "Honestly, I don't know what all the fuss is about. It's a film about two people in a monogamous relationship, having sex as you'd kind of hope that everyone does.
"It's the age-old cliché: if you don't want to be offended, don't see it."
"But really, I can't believe that people will be offended.
"I don't think anyone really was - they either didn't see it or they saw it and affected that reaction."
He said that filming the title was "bizarre and incredible," admitting that he likely won't experience anything like that again.
O'Brien recalled: "At some points, I would be taking direction from Michael standing naked with no mistaking where he could hang your towel, if you know what I mean.
"Michael would be wondering where to put his eyes. A lot of it was very funny."
Stilley also said in past interviews that she is "proud" of 9 Songs and the sex scenes that came with it.
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