Body doubles and continuity errors: This is exactly how Netflix’s Sex/Life was made

The whole show was run by women

4 years ago

Trash

It’s been out for a number of weeks but Netflix’s Sex/Life is staying firmly in the top 10 with thousands of people tuning in to watch the chaotic steamy love triangle between Billie, Brad and Cooper.

The eight part series tells the story of mother and housewife Billie. She has the seemingly perfect marriage to her husband Cooper, however she cannot stop fantasying about her ex-boyfriend Brad. She writes about the intense sex they had, only for Cooper to uncover her private journals. Naturally chaos ensues. And people are loving it.

The series was filmed last year and since its release the cast and crew have been spilling a lot of production secrets about the set of Sex/Life. They’ve revealed how the script was written, what inspired it and answered the most important question – is Adam Demos wearing a prosthetic in episode three.

These are the juicy production secrets of Netflix’s Sex/Life:

Sex/Life was inspired by a true story

via Netflix

Yes someone really lived through the chaos of Billie’s life. Sex/Life is inspired by the memoir 44 Chapters About 4 Men by BB Easton.

In the book, BB Easton writes about the experiences she had with different men before she met her husband. She began her memoir after feeling stalled in her marriage. She reflected on her previous sexual experiences with these four men and then left out her journals for her husband to find.

He found them and then used the stories to up his game and the two are still happily married today. If only it had gone that easily for Billie.

The series was run by women

Much of the show is about the empowerment of women and this is reflected behind the scenes of the show as well. The show was directed by four women who each took two episodes.

Four out of six of the show’s writers were women as well the department heads for production and costume design. According to the show’s creator Stacy Rukeyser, it was important to have the series created through the female gaze.

She said: “We had six writers, including myself, and four are women. Many of our department heads are women, including our production designer and our costume designer. It was so important that the show was both written and brought to life through a female gaze.”

Sarah really wanted the part of Billie

Sarah Shahi is really dedicated to the role of Billie and was so passionate about being cast that she went back to the casting director to re-tape her audition because she wasn’t happy with it.

Stacy Rukeyser told Collider: “I don’t know if she does, but an actress of [Sarah’s] calibre doesn’t always audition, and Sarah really came in and fought for this role. I mean, she came in, she wasn’t satisfied with what she did, she went back to the casting director on her own to re-tape, I think more than once.”

The sex scenes were written in incredible detail

via Netflix

Stacy Rukeyser has been spilling all the secrets about the saucy show since its release, including details of how the very steamy scenes were written.

According to Stacy many scripts will simply say “and then they have sex” as many writers don’t want to include graphic details. However Stacy says their team went down a different route.

She said they wanted to: “have all the details of our intimate scenes written out on the page very, very specifically”. Well they certainly achieved a lot of detail in the scenes.

There was an intimacy co-ordinator on set

In recent years many TV shows and films have employed intimacy co-ordinators in order make the actors feel comfortable when performing sex scenes. Sex/Life brought in an intimacy co-ordinator for their many sex scenes in the show.

Sarah Shahi has described the intimacy co-ordinator as essential and said they would discuss many things during filming such as what kind of breath the actors should be displaying in the scene.

Adam Demos, who plays Brad, has also praised the intimacy co-ordinator saying the number of rehearsals they did of the sex scenes made the cast feel very relaxed and comfortable.

Adam Demos didn’t have a body double

via Netflix

It’s the question the world has been waiting to be answered, but now we finally have confirmation – Adam Demos did not have a body double during the infamous shower scene in episode three.

However we still don’t know if a prosthetic was used for Adam’s rather large appendage 👀. Stacy Rukeyser addressed the speculation, saying: “That’s not a body double. I mean, people usually ask is it real or is it a prosthetic?

“And I can tell you what Adam Demos says about it, which is, a gentleman never tells. So, we are leaving that up to the viewer’s imagination.”

There was a continuity error

You’d be forgiven for being distracted and not realising there was a continuity error during that shower scene. In a later episode of Sex/Life Bille reflects on Brad getting a tattoo of two bees on his lower hip.

He still has the tattoo during the scenes happening in the current time, however the tattoo is not seen during the shower scene. But let’s be honest no one is looking at his tattoo during that moment.

This is what the cast have said about that scene

via Netflix

It’s easily the most iconic scene of TV this year – Cooper watching Brad in the shower only to discover his wife’s ex boyfriend is heavily endowed.

Mike Vogel, who played Cooper, said the team had a lot of fun with the scene. He said: “I think you read it and you film it and you have a laugh about it. And you don’t realise the life of its own that it’s going to take on. So, yeah, we’ve had a lot of fun with it, and others are as well.”

Adam Demos, the main man of that scene has previously spoken out about it, saying he knew what he was getting into when he signed up for the show.

He said: “I was okay with it because you read the script and know what you’re getting yourself into from the start, so I don’t think you would sign on to a show after reading the scripts and then say no last minute.”

Sarah and Adam are dating in real life

Besides the scene in episode three, the best thing to come out of Sex/Life is the revelation Adam Demos and Sarah Shahi are dating in real life.

The couple met in the makeup trailer on the set of the show and appear to have been inseparable ever since. They consider each other to be their soulmates and are regularly posting sweet photos of themselves together on their Instagrams.

Sarah is obsessed with watching the show

You and me both Sarah. In an interview Sarah revealed she is currently rewatching the show as she just loves it so much.

She said: “I’m obsessed with it, honestly. I know I sound like such an asshole for promoting my own show, but it’s true.

“I watched the show many times back and forth, and I found a way to separate myself from the character that I saw, and I’m immensely proud of all the work that the actors put out there and the pedigree of filmmaking, and I’m just obsessed with the music—the soundtrack blows my mind! That’s my latest obsession.”

Sex/ Life is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.