Love Scenes Get Awkward on 'Revolutionary Road'

by Matt McDaniel| October 2, 2008
http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/revolutionaryroad_blog.html

Actors always say that filming love scenes is unavoidably awkward. Just imagine trying to replicate intimacy with a virtual stranger while cameras roll, lights shine down and the director shouts out instructions. Now imagine the same situation, except it's not a stranger but your best friend, and your own spouse is directing you both.

That's the situation Kate Winslet found herself in while shooting her upcoming film Revolutionary Road. It's the first time she has worked with Leonardo DiCaprio since Titanic became the highest-grossing film of all time a decade ago. While the two have remained close in the intervening years, it took this drama about a failing marriage in 1960s suburbia to get them on the screen as a couple again.

"We knew that if we were going to do something again, it had to be something big and emotional," Winslet told Entertainment Weekly. She had read the acclaimed novel by Richard Yates years ago and pushed the film version into existence herself. Winslet felt that not only was it the right movie to reunite with DiCaprio, but also the chance to work for the first time with her husband, Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes.

Of course, making a film with your long-time friend and your husband of five years can create awkward moments, as Winslet discovered when it was time to shoot an explicit love scene.

"I just kept saying, 'This is too [expletive] weird,'" recalls Winslet. "And Leo was like, 'Oh, get over it.' And I'm going, 'Yeah, a little reminder: You're my best friend. He's my husband. This is a bit weird.'"


Professionals that they all are, the three got through the uncomfortable moments to produce a wrenching drama that already has people talking Oscars. To preview the film, coming to theaters December 26th, watch the exclusive trailer below.