Ever since cities such as Los Angeles, New York and Chicago and Minneapolis have reopened for production, there has been rampant speculation on how intimate scenes and fight scenes will be accomplished in an era of COVID-19. Last week, we ran a piece where the AMPTP Guidelines suggested either eliminating sex scenes or using CGI enhancement when possible. Leave it to CBS’ The Bold and the Beautiful, which is the first scripted show to return to production, to come up with a somewhat practical solution.
It’s bold. It’s beautiful. It’s a Sex Doll.
According to Bradley Bell, executive producer and head writer of the long running soap, the series will be making use of one of its old blow-up dolls on set to film sex scenes moving forward.
“When we were reviewing the scripts we started taking out all the romantic scenes and [the scripts] just fell flat,” Bell said. “We put our heads together trying to figure out a way to make these scenes work without breaking the eight-foot [distancing] rule… and we brought out a doll we used years ago as a corpse.”
Bell said the production team gave it a shot and it resulted in a “very convincing” take.
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“It’s a great doll and we’ll be using her with hair and makeup as a stand-in to match some of our leading ladies,” Bell added.
The producer said the show “may be investing in more dolls,” including male ones. “We’re searching websites and combing Hollywood to see what’s available — so we may be employing a lot of dolls in future love scenes,” Bell shared.
Another approach being considered involves the real-life spouses of the actors standing in as stunt doubles. “Some” were interested, he said.
If spouses do step in for future roles, Bell assured they too would be tested for COVID-19. Kissing doubles would be a first for the show, he added.
Like a number of other productions filmed in Hollywood, The Bold and the Beautiful will follow “state, county and [unions] DGA and SAG-AFTRA” guidelines.
In addition to sex scenes, Bell said the show is using “extreme caution.” The new rules involve downsizing the number of crew members and requiring stars to wear face masks in between scenes, Bell noted.
According to reports, filming has since been temporarily paused to allow for more COVID-19 testing to be put in place.
Can’t wait to see the line item production budget for this.
SOURCE: Hollywood Reporter
