Reese Witherspoon says she tried to say no to infamous Fear sex scene with Mark Wahlberg
Reese Witherspoon is opening up about feeling uncomfortable while filming a sex scene for the 1996 film Fear.
The actress recalled in a recent Harper's Bazaar interview that she felt like she "didn't have control" over the scene — which features Mark Wahlberg's character David giving Witherspoon's Nicole an orgasm while they're riding on a roller coaster — and specifically requested a body double for its more risqué shots.
"It wasn't explicit in the script that that's what was going to happen, so that was something that I think the director [James Foley] thought of on his own and then asked me on set if I would do it, and I said no," she told the outlet. "It wasn't a particularly great experience."
Everett Collection Reese Witherspoon in 'Fear'
The psychological thriller, which followed high schooler Nicole's relationship with the mysterious David, was one of Witherspoon's first films following starring roles in A Far Off Place, S.F.W, and Freeway. While the Morning Show star noted that she's "certainly not traumatized or anything by it" these days, she called the scene a "formative" lesson for her career.
"It made me understand where my place was in the pecking order of filmmaking," Witherspoon explained. "I think it's another one of those stories that made me want to be an agent for change and someone who maybe can be in a better leadership position to tell stories from a female perspective instead of from the male gaze."
EW has reached out to representatives for Foley, who did not immediately respond.
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