Actor 'freaked out' filming graphic scene in new Netflix movie which is disturbing viewers
Netflix’s newest hit film saw Brett Goldstein write a role specifically for his celebrity crush: Jennifer Lopez, but another scene in the movie has been getting huge reactions online.
Called Office Romance, the initial focus on social media was solely on the pair’s chemistry in the film (and rumours that they were secretly dating) with it shooting straight to the top of the streamer's charts worldwide.
Starring Goldstein, Lopez, as well as Betty Gilpin, Jodie Whittaker, Edward James Olmos, and Bradley Whitford, the Netflix movie focuses on the CEO of an airline who falls for her new lawyer on a trip away.
The flick has received middling reviews from critics and mostly positive reviews from fans, but the big talking point online is a scene in which Betty Gilpin’s character Sydney gives birth in graphic detail.
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Throughout Office Romance, Sydney refuses to stop working despite her late-stage pregnancy, eventually giving birth on a table at the office helped by Goldstein’s Daniel and Lopez’s Jackie.
While the rest of the film does feature some pretty graphic language there isn’t much nudity – which makes it all the more shocking when the baby’s birth is shown in graphic detail.
Betty Gilpin explained she was ‘freaked out’ by the scene, and spoke about the prosthetic vagina that allowed her to film it
Speaking to Variety, Betty Gilpin said that she was ‘pretty freaked out’ when she first saw the prosthetic vagina they were using for the scene. She continued: “I had a nervous breakdown and then I was like, ‘Oh, but I’ll be holding the ultimate working mom’s hand, Jennifer Lopez, so what could go wrong?’”
Gilpin explained how it worked, stating that her real legs were below a table, adding that she had ‘fake prosthetic legs’.
The Glow actor continued: “A puppeteer was standing at my real legs pushing an animatronic baby out of my prosthetic vagina, and it made it sound like [Gilpin makes a popping sound]… It was insane.
“The saddest part was when the scene was over and everybody but the puppeteers stayed in the room because the only way to reset was to go under and pull the fake placenta — I think the placenta is not in the movie anymore – but reach up through the prosthetic vagina that I am still zipped into, pull the placenta back and take the umbilical cord and pull it back and then pull the baby back through, and then it was time to do it again.”
Fans are being blindsided by the graphic scene – with mixed reactions
Over on Reddit one fan said that they ‘can’t unsee’ the scene, with another commenting: “I don't know what I was expecting, but I don't think a full graphic uncensored birthing scene was one of them.”
While, of course, giving birth is a natural part of life, not everyone appears to have been expecting it amid what was otherwise a very straightforward non-graphic romcom.
One fan tweeted suggesting people who haven’t seen the movie open up the scene and go straight to the timestamp for the childbirth, with a viral tweet garnering nearly five million views simply for saying: “Don’t.”
Another reply sided with those suggesting a big deal was being made of nothing, saying: “Yall need to grow the f*ck up. I was expecting way more than.. childbirth? Who cares.”
At the time of writing, Office Romance has a 49 percent critics' score and a 50 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
If you haven’t watched the film already (and fancy a by-the-books old school romcom with some good chemistry), now is the time to go watch and decide for yourself.
Office Romance is available to stream on Netflix now.
Topics: TV and Film, Film, Jennifer Lopez, Netflix
Michael Slavin