Director 'instructed Aubrey Plaza to really masturbate' in a movie

If you want to be a top actor, you've got to be willing to embarrass yourself in front of millions of people.

And while Aubrey Plaza was more than willing to do just that, even she was surprised how far the director wanted her to go:

Back in 2013, Plaza starred in a film called The To-Do List, where she played Brandy Klark, a nerdy teen set to go to college.

Sexually inexperienced, her character compiles a list of bases to check off before she heads to university.

During one scene in the film, she gets to know herself a bit more intimately.

Now for any actor, this could potentially be a pretty mortifying act to have to simulate, especially in a room full of strangers.

And when asked about her preparation for the scene, during an interview with Conan O'Brien, Plaza admitted that she thought it would be just that, a simulation.

"In my head, I envisioned a nice scene where you see my hand slowly go out of frame,” the 38-year-old said.

Varsity Pictures

"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."

After later clarifying that the men weren't actually smoking, Plaza said that she even approached the film's director, Maggie Carey, about the scene.

"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," Plaza recalled.

"And I asked the director, 'What should I do?' And she said, 'Masturbate, like it says in the script'."

Plaza also spoke to Oregon Live about the infamous scene, admitting that she was anxious about it.

"Looking back on it, I feel like the masturbating scene was a little bit the most nerve-racking," she said.

"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'."

At least it's a good story to tell the grandkids, right?

LADbible has contacted Maggie Carey's representatives for comment.