Kristen Stewart Says She's 'Sick' of Seeing 'Run-of-the-Mill' Sex Scenes: 'That's Just Not How People' Do It

The actress wanted the 'Love Lies Bleeding' sex scenes to be "literal instead of faux"

Kristen Stewart attends the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Opening Night Gala: Celebrating 40 Years at DeJoria Center
Kristen Stewart. Photo:

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

Kristen Stewart wants to revolutionize sex scenes onscreen.

The Twilight alum stars in the new R-rated film Love Lies Bleeding, an "electric new love story" directed by Rose Glass and costarring Katy O’Brian.

Stewart, 33, told NBC News she wanted to make the film's intimate scenes fresh and more realistic.

She said, "The run-of-the-mill, like, just-go-for-it simulated sex thing is so rote, and it’s like actors do have this default thing where, like, ‘Okay, we’re supposed to make out and have sex now.’ That’s just not how people have sex, and I’m so sick of seeing it."

"Really nailing the details and talking about the physical experience more so than even seeing it, like verbalizing it, talking to each other, sharing space, having it not be cut up into a ton of different shots, it felt like … a really beautiful thing to deliver an experience that was, like, literal instead of faux," added the Oscar nominee.

O'Brian said, "If anyone takes anything from this movie, it’s to ask your partner what they like. You don’t see that in a movie."

Jena Malone, Katy O'Brian, Kristen Stewart and Anna Baryshnikov at the "Love Lies Bleeding" Los Angeles premiere
From left: Jena Malone, Katy O'Brian, Kristen Stewart and Anna Baryshnikov on March 5, 2024.

Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images

Love Lies Bleeding is about a "reclusive gym manager" Lou (Stewart), who "falls hard for Jackie (O’Brian), an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Vegas in pursuit of her dream." However, "their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou’s criminal family."

O’Brian explained to NBC News that "obviously we worked with an intimacy coordinator and everything, and we talked about the scenes and comfort zones."

Beyond the sex scenes, the movie shows that "gay people do a lot of stuff," Stewart told Out magazine. "They don't just come out," said the actress, who's engaged to fiancée Dylan Meyer.

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"They don't just slowly glance, lingering, finger-brush each other. This movie was fun to do because I felt like we were all on a playground and allowed to be the kids that we were born as and then also as adults could play with," she added. "It was a nice return to form."

Said Stewart, "People are talking about it being a 'sexual thriller.' There isn't even that much sex in it. It's so funny, because it's more about the stories we tell each other and the believing in each other that we do and that sort of immediate, unexplained connection that is purely physical. That is so gay."

Love Lies Bleeding is in select theaters Friday.

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