• Home
  • News
  • Entertainment
  • LAD Originals

U OK M8?
Free To Be
Extinct
Citizen Reef

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Not now
OK
Advert
Advert
Advert

Jemima Kirke responds after brother-in-law Penn Badgley made sex scenes request

Ali Condon

Published 
| Last updated 

Jemima Kirke responds after brother-in-law Penn Badgley made sex scenes request

Jemima Kirke has commented on her brother-in-law Penn Badgley's requests to cut down on the sex scenes in his hit Netflix series You.

Loading…

Penn, who has been married to Jemima's sister Domino Kirke since 2017, spoke earlier this year about his decision to bring the show's raunchy sex scenes down from '100 to zero' out of respect to his marriage.

Explaining the decision on his podcast Podcrushed, he told listeners back in February: "Fidelity in every relationship, and especially my marriage, is really important to me.

Advert

"It just got to a point where I don’t want to do that."

Penn Badgley made a request for the sex scenes in You to be cut down out of respect for his marriage. Credit: Netflix
Penn Badgley made a request for the sex scenes in You to be cut down out of respect for his marriage. Credit: Netflix

He also shared that, when he brought the request to series writer Sera Gamble, she 'didn't even bat an eye' and was 'really glad that [her] was that honest and had a really positive response'.

As a result, you may have noticed that the very few sex scenes in season four of the Netflix show are far more tame compared to previous seasons.

Advert

Now, Penn's sister-in-law, Girls star Jemima Kirke has shared her thoughts on his decision.

"I’m not saying I agree with it. But I do understand," the Sex Education star told GQ.

"I’ve never dated an actor but I’d imagine it would be difficult to see or know that your spouse is being physical with someone else.

"But it’s probably just as hard to know they’re playing a character who’s falling madly in love with another character."

Advert

Kirke then went on to suggest that actors asking for fewer sex scenes would probably 'go further' in the future.

Jemima starred as Jessa in Girls from 2012 to 2017. Credit: HBO
Jemima starred as Jessa in Girls from 2012 to 2017. Credit: HBO

"That’s not to say I will partake in that view of things,” she noted. "Because to be honest it’s never really happened to me. I’ve never done a sex or a love scene and come home and not loved, or been as attracted to my spouse."

She went on to admit: "I have had moments that weren't totally kosher between me and another actor. I think there is room for that mistake to be made. This society says there is not."

Advert

Jemima is no stranger to the odd sex scene, having filmed a few when she played Jessa in Lena Dunham's hit comedy series Girls from 2012 to 2017.

That being said, she did notice that approaching sex scenes in the film and TV landscape back then was 'very different' to how it works after the #MeToo movement.

There were far fewer raunchy scenes in season four of You. Credit: Netflix
There were far fewer raunchy scenes in season four of You. Credit: Netflix

"On Girls, we thought we were doing a different version of feminism," she explained.

Advert

"We thought that by being less precious about our bodies, and by not thinking of them as something to hide or protect against the male gaze, that was our version of feminism at the time.

"And I felt it, I liked it, I agreed with it. It was not in line with what #MeToo became. It didn’t really catch on."

Featured Image Credit: Erik Pendzich / Alamy Stock Photo Sipa US / Alamy Stock Photo

Topics: Celebrity, You, Netflix

Ali Condon
More like this
Advert
Advert
Advert

Chosen for YouChosen for You

Entertainment

Karren Brady will quit The Apprentice when Lord Sugar goes

an hour ago

Most Read StoriesMost Read

Woman left half-naked after tripping on treadmill and having leggings 'sucked off'

5 hours ago