Lars Von Trier’s ‘Nymphomaniac’ Puts A-Listers Heads On Porn Doubles For Hardcore Scenes
We’ve heard our fair share of going to extensive lengths to feature digital work in films, but Lars Von Trier’s technique for his new sex addict film Nymphomaniac goes above and beyond the call of duty.
After filming ended it was said that heavy digital visual effects would be the reason Von Trier’s Nymphomaniac would be delayed, as he had his work cut out for him in post production. Now we’re finally hearing just what those digital effects entail within the film. According to a producer, the film will not be ready until the end of the year because the avant garde director is planning to combine porn torsos to its a-list cast.
Opening up to The Hollywood Reporter, producer Louise Vesth explained of the extensive work Lars had when it comes to the digital body mapping that has to happen in order for the explicit sex scenes to look real. The film, which stars Shia LaBeouf, Jamie Bell, Stellan Skarsgard, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Willem Dafoe were all asked to film stimulated sex scenes and then porn doubles were filmed as well. For the finished product the bottom halves of their bodies will not be their own.
Vesth went on to explain the elaborate process of using porn doubles with real actors:
“We shot the actors pretending to have sex,” the producer says, “and then had the body doubles, who really did have sex, and in post we will digital-impose the two. So above the waist it will be the star and below the waist it will be the doubles.”
Sounds like the visual effects department has their work cut out for them.
Before and during filming Nymphomaniac was receiving a lot of buzz due to its star Shia LaBeouf spilling the details about how it felt to perform real sex on set. Though now that it’s believed that none of the a-listers performed actual sex, we’re a bit confused if whether or not unstimulated Shia LaBeouf scenes actually exist.
At the time LaBeouf had said: “It is Lars von Trier, making a movie about what he’s making. For instance, there’s a disclaimer at the top of the script that basically says we’re doing it for real. Everything that is illegal, we’ll shoot in blurred images. Other than that, everything is happening.”
Even if LaBeouf didn’t perform actual sex in the film, it seems as though somewhere there’s a few explicit tapes of Shia LaBeouf out there, as he sent director Von Trier videos of him and his girlfriends having sex as an audition.”I sent videotapes of me and my girlfriend having sex and that’s how I got the job.” We’re hoping he’s joking.
Do you think Von Trier’s new technique will catch on?
