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How Joe Alwyn and Margaret Qualley Collaborated for Stars at Noon Sex Scenes

Stars at Noon's actors Joe Alwyn and Margaret Qualley told E! News how they made their sex scenes in the film based on mutual "trust" in one another.

By Amanda Williams, Amy Lamare Oct 03, 2022 9:50 PMTags
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The steamy sex scenes between Joe Alwyn and Margaret Qualley grew out of trust.

The Stars at Noon actors exclusively told E! News how they worked together on those intimate moments, and ultimately credited director Claire Denis with creating a comfortable environment.

"I think really both went into this with such an love and admiration for Claire, and she has such a tenderness in her approach to filmmaking," Qualley shared with E! News, "which was ever present in those scenes."  

She also had nice things to say about her co-star, of course. "[It was] really nice to be working with someone like Joe," The Maid star added, "who's just completely lovely and talented."

But Qualley, 27, made it clear that the sex scenes are just "one part of the story" and filming them was "just another day" on set.

Alwyn agreed, saying, "Oh, yeah, exactly. It just takes care of people in that environment. You know, it's about trust, and we trust each other. We trust Claire. And it's as simple as that."

Based on the 1986 book of the same name from Denis Johnson, Stars at Noon is about a young American journalist named Trish (Qualley) who is stranded in present-day Nicaragua. Trish falls in love with a mysterious Englishman named Daniel (Alwyn), who seems like her best hope for escaping the country, according to Festival d' Cannes. But Trish soon realizes that Daniel may be in more trouble than she is.

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Daniel was originally supposed to be played by Robert Pattinson, ScreenDaily reported in July 2021. However, Pattinson was committed to The Batman, and the director later gave Alwyn a call. 

"I was very happy to kind of jump in. It was quite last minute," he told E! News. "I got a call saying, 'Would you speak to Claire this afternoon? And I if you respond to the script, she'd love to talk to you.' And so I obviously did."

Alwyn, who has been dating Taylor Swift for about six years, said he was interested in working with Claire, who has previously directed 2022's Both Sides of the Blade, 2018's High Life and 2017's Let the Sunshine In.

"I've been a fan of Claire for a long time," he said. "So it was never an opportunity I was going to say no to."

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When it came to diving into his character, the Conversations with Friends actor said, "For Daniel, so much is kind of unknown about them, and intentionally so. They're very opaque people and they're very guarded people." Alwyn added, "We just followed wherever Claire wanted to take us."

Stars at Noon is an official selection of the New York Film Festival. It hits theaters on Oct. 14.