'This is not a regular sex scene'
How Rebecca Ferguson prepared for her big “moment of intimacy”
Netflix
- Michael Hodges
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Were you worried about joining the famous Peaky Blinders as Kaulo?
I rarely worry what people are going to think, because it’s beyond my control. But I wanted to live up to the expectations of Cillian and those who are already in it and create something that merges into their world.
Barry Keoghan, who plays your nephew, was a newcomer as well…
Oh, I love Barry, he’s amazing, such an open soul and he feeds off things around him. I loved our relationship. His character, Duke, is self-centred, obsessed, but also self-sabotaging, so unpredictable, a time bomb that could just pop any second. Kaulo is the only person who can say, “Stop” and he listens. It’s like tough love, isn’t it?
Kaulo uses mystical powers on Tommy — do you believe in that?
Well, I’m not religious in any way. But I do believe in the energies in a room. How do I feel before you walked in, and how do I feel now that you’re in it? And I loved going into the world of magic and séance, which a lot of these gypsies believed and believe in.
There is a very long bedroom scene with Cillian, did you use intimacy coordinators?
I think it’s wonderful that we can have intimacy coordinators and sometimes they are needed, but for me it’s very off-putting and it makes me feel uncomfortable because I have enormous boundaries and I can verbalise them. So we could sit down and say, “What do you need to feel safe? What do I need to feel safe?” And then she could step out of the scene.
And then what?
I had called Cillian and asked him how he wanted to work. It sounds so silly, but I said, “I’ve studied your sex scenes…” And he went, “That’s weird and awkward.” And I went, “I know, but bear with me. This is not a regular sex scene. This isn’t us getting our kit off, getting on with it, bish bash bosh. This is a moment of release. This is a moment of intimacy, there’s magic.”
Are female actors judged differently to men?
One of the first things to do is to not let yourself feel undermined. When you start thinking that you’re not worth more than a male lead star, or a female, then you’ve already placed yourself beneath them. If you go on a set and there’s a big male star, you have to project your power as well.
Steven Knight says the Peaky Blinders’ story will continue. Would you like Kaulo’s story to carry on?
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I never say no. I think that Kaulo was so essential for this film, but I don’t always feel like a character needs to have a continuation; we can be satisfied with not being satisfied.
Authors
Michael Hodges
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