Joaquin Walked Off Set During Orgasm Scene


Scarlett Johansson, Joaquin Phoenix.
Alessandra Tarantino/AP/Shutterstock

An uncomfortable moment. Scarlett JohanssonShe recalled her costar Joaquin Phoenix’s reaction to her “bizarre” orgasm scene in their 2013 film Her.

“We tried to get through one take, and he was, like, losing it. He left the studio. He needed a break,” Johansson, 37, revealed during a Monday, October 10, appearance on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast.

The Marriage Story star called the phone sex scene between her and Phoenix, 47, “gross,” adding, “You definitely don’t want to hear what you sound like having an orgasm. You definitely don’t want to hear what you sound like having a fake orgasm — ew.”

The AvengersActress was brought on board Spike JonzeFilming had already ended and the movie was still in production.

“I didn’t know whether what I brought to it would workFor him because he’d already shot the film and had to fit whatever it was that we did into what he’d already shot,” she said during a September 2013 conversation with Darren Aronofsky for Interview magazine.

She continued: “I saw a couple of his takes with Joaquin and did a little bit of work there. It turned out to be four days of recording, which I thought was going. At times, I would even record with Joaquin, who really made himself available in an amazing way.”

Johansson’s role of Samantha, an artificially intelligent virtual assistant, was originally portrayed by Samantha Morton.

“Samantha was with us on set and was amazing. It was only in post-production, when we started editing, that we realized that what the character/movie needed was different from what Samantha and I had created together,” Jonze, 52, told VultureJune 2013. “So, we recast.”

Scarlett Johansson- Joaquin Phoenix Walked Off ‘Her’ Set During 'Bizarre' Orgasm Scene 02

Scarlett Johansson, Joaquin Phoenix.
Agf/Shutterstock

Phoenix enjoyed working with both vocal actresses for their different reasons. “[With Samantha,] we really developed our characters together in a way, and with Scarlett, I worked with her just in the studio, so it’s just completely different experiences,” he said during a January 2014 appearance on NPR’s Fresh Air.

He continued: “You know, I had such an amazing time working with Samantha Morton and I feel so beholden to her for helping me develop this character. Scarlett was amazing, and I also learned something new about our relationship. It was an extraordinary process.”

Morton, 45 years old, spoke for her part. Vanity Fair in July 2019 that being recast felt as if she had “created a painting and then put it in the attic, and nobody’s seen it.”