Obsession's intimacy coordinator breaks down William and Anna's sex scenes
Adelaide Waldrop lifts the covers on the new Netflix drama

Headshot of Dusty Baxter-WrightBY DUSTY BAXTER-WRIGHTPUBLISHED: 13 APRIL 2023

Forget Sex/Life, because Netflix is back with a new steamy drama to capture your imagination, this time in the shape of Obsession.

The four-part series centres on Richard Armitage as William, a successful surgeon who begins an affair with his adult son's fiancée Anna (played by Charlie Murphy). What follows is a tale of destructive obsession and urgent sex, as the erotic thriller unfolds into explorations of BDSM and infatuation.

Here, the show's intimacy coordinator Adelaide Waldrop shares behind the scenes details from the closed set, including how that William scene in the hotel room came to be, and the challenges they faced during filming.

How did you prep Richard Armitage and Charlie Murphy for the roles of William and Anna in Obsession?

Because the sexual storytelling was so essential to this project, I had a research folder of reference points, on things like the BDSM dynamics, the power play, even just how the [bondage] knots were tied. It was really important to me that we authentically represented these characters' stories, as well the communities that they were engaging with.

Richard and Charlie did a lot of research into these characters. Each of them had a sort of sexual chemistry in this physical language, and were very intent on [having] specific choreography. So we had these anchoring points in the shape of a sequence. It enabled them to sort of have that freedom to really express and discover [William and Anna], in between very grounded moves. Once you're able to guarantee the safety of the project, you're able to get more into it creatively.

If you want [the sex scene] to look realistic and effective, then you need to rehearse those things. You're pretending something that's not really happening is happening, and you need to find ways to build that illusion. Just like a choreographed fight scene or a dance - you wouldn't ask actors to make up their own waltz.



Do you have a favourite sex scene from Obsession?
The first time Anna and William have sex. It gives you that real build up to the transgression, the point of no return, and you see them both entering into this relationship that you just know is not going to end well. It really builds up the suspense, and the dynamic of Anna fully taking off William's clothes and then lying [on the wooden floor]. It's very compelling and effective.

What about the scene with William in the hotel room?
Editor's note: The scene sees William follow his son Jay and Anna on a romantic weekend away to Paris. When they leave their hotel, William books into the very same room, before scouring the bed for any trace of Anna. He then masturbates over a pillow which has her scent.

That is unlike any intimate scene I've ever worked on or seen before. That kind of scene is terrifying [for an actor]. People often think it's much higher risk if you're filming with another person, but in reality, solo intimate scenes can be really exposing because you don't have a buddy in it, it's just you. And you need to have it really grounded in character, because you don't want to feel like you're performing your own personal sex life ever. Especially not when it's just you on your own.

obsession on netflix's intimacy coordinator on william and anna's sex scenes
Netflix
Filming that scene came quite far along our production schedule. Richard clearly felt comfortable enough with the closed set and the process to just fully commit to this sensual, but also kind of grotesque and tragic, painful scene. It's an incredible moment of storytelling of the obsession that his character is experiencing.

Also, I'm really proud of the representation of the male body, and the dynamic we see in terms of Anna and William. It's not the normal language we see in heterosexual depictions of heterosexual sex, and of male and female bodies in that way.

How did you prepare actor Richard for it?
Richard has a background in dance; he's very physical performer. So we talked a lot about movement and physical dynamics, and the ways that William's animalistic qualities come out.

Also, Charlie had been wearing this [specific] scent throughout the production period, that she only wore as Anna. She had been filming earlier in the day, and when she left, she sprayed some of her perfume on one of the pillows. I don't think she told Richard where it was going to be in the bed area. The scene [viewers see in Obsession] was the first take, because I remember being in the room and being completely in awe of the performance Richard gave. He found the scent. It was kind of improvised in a way that it was spontaneous, but heavily framed by the characters and their relationship. It was about his desperation [for her]; that addiction to her. It felt grounded in a sort of sensual sensory physicality.

When everybody's [the cast and crew] in a place where you know exactly what the boundaries and the scope of these characters are, you can really delve into some of those sensory triggers without it feeling like it's bleeding outside [of the characters].

Were there any challenging or logistically difficult scenes, that maybe took a bit more energy?
We did six days straight of scenes in Peggy's apartment, which was a set in a studio. We were filming all day, which was full on. Scenes that are challenging are usually the ones that feel higher risk or more complicated - you never have actors who are fully nude, including genitalia, simulating sex because you're unable to make that safe. So a lot of the tricky things are cheating the [camera] angles so that you're hiding the modesty garments.

The elements that are challenging are when you want the actors to feel completely free to explore their characters, while also needing them to tilt their head a certain way so we can build an illusion [for the cameras]. I spent a lot of time prepping for the rope scenes, because I wanted to make sure I wasn't misrepresenting the BDSM community. I also didn't want to have knots that were dangerous, or unrealistic for these characters.

obsession's intimacy coordinator unpacks will's pillow scene
Netflix
Anytime you have actors playing with the relationship between pleasure and pain, where it doesn't go so far as to be a stunt level of violence, you want to make sure that while it looks like there's pain involved, it's not real pain for them. When you have actors who are very talented, sometimes you're watching a tape and you're like, 'Are they okay?'

How do you maintain a level of believability or authenticity with sex scenes, while making them safe for the actors?
There's always going to be spontaneity to the filming process, but there's also always an aspect of pretence to everything that an actor does. They're pretending their character is saying a line for the first time, over and over and over again. It's a balance of what's rehearsed and what's discovered in the moment. There was a bedrock foundation of trust and safety, and I was confident in the way that both actors communicated with each other.

Sometimes [the sex scene] was as specific as this many thrusts, or that many moves, but other times it was, 'this is the start point' and 'this is the endpoint.' We're checking everything - every grab and every squeeze [to ensure the actors are comfortable] - which means they have the freedom to explore and really push the boundaries of the characters, because everyone knows that Richard and Charlie are safe.

Obsession is now streaming on Netflix.