‘Knocked Up:’ Seth Rogen Took Sean Connery’s Advice for a Sex Scene, Then It Backfired Horribly
Sex scenes can be difficult for actors for a variety of reasons. But for comedian Seth Rogen, his own sex scene in Knocked Up was especially difficult, and he was determined to make it as comfortable as he could.
So the then-newcomer decided to look to Sean Connery’s advice to help him through the take. But when it came time to finally do the sex scene with Katherine Heigl, it backfired in a major way.
Seth Rogen found the sex scenes in ‘Knocked Up’ a bit ‘nerve racking’
As some might know, the 2007 Judd Apatow film Knocked Up follows Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl as the leads. The movie followed a twenty-something stoner who impregnated a one-night stand he felt was out of his league. Because of the movie’s content, there was of course a sex scene between Heigl and Rogen. But it wasn’t something Rogen had an easy time doing at first.
“Yeah, it’s really kind of nerve-wracking, you know. If I was 18 years old, I’d literally be as far as I’ve ever been with a girl,” Rogen once said to Collider. ”You’re essentially – you’re dry humping; I don’t know if you can say that, but I’ll say it. You’re dry humping a girl who you don’t know very well, and I was just afraid I was going to sweat on her.”
But the film being a comedy was something that Rogen felt would help him through the ordeal.
“It’s nerves – but luckily they’re comedic sex scenes, supposedly. So that kind of helps; it’s not like I’m supposed to be acting sexy. There’s lines like, ‘This is my new record’ in there; so that kind of alleviates some of the pressure that would be put on me to look attractive and sexy – which is nice,” he added.
Seth Rogen mistakenly turned to Sean Connery for help with his sex scene, and it backfired
Seeing as he didn’t want his sex scene with Heigl to be a complete disaster, the Long Shot actor wanted to be prepared. To ready for the scene, he listened to some advice from an unlikely source in James Bond’s Sean Connery.
“I got really nervous and I kept thinking, ‘What will I do, how do I behave?’ And I was watching TV one day and Inside The Actor’s Studio was on and Sean Connery was on it and he has a lot of sex scenes,” Rogen said according to Contact Music. “He was talking about sex scenes and he said, ‘Before every sex scene, I say to the woman, ‘I’m sorry if I get aroused and I’m sorry if I don’t.’ I thought, ‘That’s good, I’ll use that.’”
Unfortunately, when the time came, Rogen discovered that what worked for Connery wouldn’t work for him. At least when it came to Heigl.
“So, we’re shooting the scene and we’re getting into position,” he continued. “I’m really focusing on not sweating on her, that’s my main goal. I say to her, ‘Katherine, I’m sorry if I get aroused and I’m sorry if I don’t.’ And she looks at me and says, ‘Why would you be sorry if you don’t get aroused? I don’t want you to get aroused.’”
It was a lesson about himself and Connery that he believed he was taught the hard way
“I realized that’s the difference between my and Sean Connery – people kind of want him to get aroused a little. I should have just said, ‘I’m sorry.’ And that’s it,” he added.
Seth Rogen believed sex scenes are easier when they’re funny
Even after several years of being in the industry, Rogen shared he still had trouble doing sex scenes. But the Freaks and Geeks alum found when comedy was implemented in more intimate takes helped alleviate his worries.
“It’s always easier to do a sex scene when it’s funny,” Rogen told Associated Press. “Like, if there’s a joke to it, it’s like, it actually takes a lot of what I find very uncomfortable about sex scenes out of it. Because it’s about another thing. Obviously, the chemistry and romance and all that have to be a part of it, but there’s also a joke that you’re trying to achieve. So it kind of allows you to focus on that.”
