Henry Cavill says he's 'not a fan' of sex scenes: 'They're overused these days'

Henry Cavill thinks sex scenes are "overused" in movies and television.

The "Argylle" actor discussed why he's "not a fan" of intimacy scenes on the Monday episode of the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast.

"I don’t understand them, I’m not a fan," he said. "I think there are circumstances where a sex scene actually is beneficial to a movie, rather than just the audience, but I think sometimes they’re overused these days."

Cavill added that often sex scenes don't add anything to the development of the film and leaving an air of mystery does more for the audience.

"It’s when you have a sense where you’re going, 'Is this really necessary or is it just people with less clothing on?' And that’s when you start to get more uncomfortable and you’re thinking, 'There’s not a performance here, there’s not a piece which is going to carry through to the rest of the movie,'" the "Man of Steel" star reflected.

He added: "Most of the time the human imagination is going to trump it. So it can be a little bit of a cop out if a TV show or a movie is just filled with gyrating bodies and you’re going, 'OK, but what is this doing for us apart from the idea of, oh naked person, great.'"

"Argylle" director Matthew Vaughn, who appeared on the podcast with Cavill, said that's one of the reasons he doesn't direct them. "I can’t get my head around sex scenes. It’s just something I don’t understand."

Penn Badgley asked for a reduction of sex scenes in 'You'

Hollywood has had mixed reactions to the necessity of sex scenes.

In February 2023, Penn Badgley went viral after he revealed that he almost turned down his role in "You" due to the number of sex scenes it required of him.

"It’s not a place where I’ve blurred lines," Badgley Variety, describing his discomfort with sex scenes despite "having done a fair amount of them" in his career. "That aspect of Hollywood has always been very disturbing to me — and that aspect of the job, that mercurial boundary — has always been something that I actually don’t want to play with at all."

Badgley said his discomfort with sex scenes is due to his desire to maintain "fidelity" in his marriage. The actor has been married to singer, actress and doula Domino Kirke since 2017.

"It was one of the reasons that I initially wanted to turn the role down," he said, adding that he only took it because Kirke encouraged him to.

'You' star Penn Badgleyalmost turned down role due to sex scenes, his 'fidelity' to wife

The "Gossip Girl" alum also revealed on his podcast "Podcrushed,"  that he asked "You" showrunner Sera Gamble to reduce the amount of sex scenes in Season 4.

"She had a really positive response," he said. "And they came back with a phenomenal reduction."

In an interview with GQ in March, Badgley added that he was concerned of "any ramifications" setting a boundary on sex scenes would have on his career moving forward. "Just simply, it does limit the number of projects you can be a part of."

However, when it came to his role as Joe Goldberg in "You," the lack of nude intimacy "didn’t change the trajectory of the season at all."

Contributing: Charles Trepany

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