And Just Like That wasn’t shy about filming more risque scenes for their characters, and that included Rosie O’Donnell, who appeared as a guest and was “horrified” filming a sex scene with Cynthia Nixon.
The comedian and actor appeared on Amy Poehler‘s Good Hang podcast, where the Baby Mama star brought up her “intimate scene” on And Just Like That. O’Donnell appeared in the Sex and the City spinoff as a Wicked fanatic nun named Sister Mary during Season 3 in the episode titled “Outlook Good.”
Her character is visiting New York from Winnipeg and meets Nixon’s iconic character Miranda Hobbs at a gay bar. One thing leads to another, and Sister Mary loses her virginity to Miranda. Poehler asked O’Donnell what filming the “bed scene” was like at the request of Nixon herself.
“Horrifying to me, because I was so nervous!” explained O’Donnell while laughing.
“First of all, I love her. And have so much respect for her,” she added. “And she called me, and she’s like, ‘Ro, you know, [showrunner Michael Patrick King] wrote you a scene and it’s with me. Will you do it?’ I said, ‘Of course I’ll do it with you.’ And then I read it, and I’m in bed with just the sheets and then I’m like, ‘Oh my god.’”
For O’Donnell, filming the scene wasn’t necessarily a horrifying experience in a bad way, but more about not knowing how to go about it and not having that much experience. In the span of her career, she’s only had one other intimate scene, and it was on Nip/Tuck with Julian McMahon.
She adds that she was incredibly nervous while working with Nixon when director Michael King suggested giving a “little bit more” for the scene. O’Donnell recalls, “I really can’t” when it came to King’s request to make things appear more natural.
“The kissing wasn’t hard, but the laying in bed and the wanting us to act like we had just done it…I’m a little immature when it comes to that,” O’Donnell admitted.
Poehler chimed in that O’Donnell wasn’t being immature and explained that multiple actor friends have done it. O’Donnell agreed that “it’s a skill. It really is” to be able to perform an intimate scene on camera and make it look realistic. Her nerves didn’t stop the comedian from praising Nixon and saying she’s the “real deal” and “admires her.”
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