Kate Winslet reveals comical sex scenes in The Regime forced the crew to leave set for laughing

The Oscar winning actress plays the dictator of an imagined central European state in the Sky Max series
Lisa McLoughlin 1 March 2024
The Weekender

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Kate Winslet revealed that the sex scenes in the satirical drama The Regime were so comical that crew members were asked to leave the set for laughing too much.

The Oscar winning actress plays the dictator of an imagined central European state, who has an affair with her bodyguard Zubak (played by Matthias Schoenaerts) in the Sky Max series.

While shooting intimate scenes can often be awkward for both actors and crew, Winslet confessed that they had the opposite impact on the set of the dramedy.

The 48-year-old recalled the show’s cinematographer and hair and make-up artist being asked to leave for being unable to contain their laughter.

She shared: “When we were shooting episode five, Elena and Zubak are having sex. And she's screaming at him: ‘No biting, no biting!’

“Two people had to be sent out for laughing. One of them was Alwin Kuchler, our cinematographer, and one of the hair and make-up people.”

Winslet pictured with her co-star Matthias Schoenaerts
HBO/Sky Max

Winslet acknowledged that while the comic relief was appreciated for easing tension on set, there was a hiccup when the absence of the hair and makeup artist during filming became an issue, particularly when her co-stars' tattoos started transferring onto her skin.

“That was actually kind of a problem because Matthias had all these tattoos, and as he got sweatier and sweatier they just kept sort of rubbing off on me,” she said as reported by MailOnline.

“And I said: 'This is really like I've got the newspaper printed on me.”

The Regime, which also stars Andrea Riseborough and Hugh Grant, has been penned by Will Tracy from Succession and helmed by director Stephen Frears.

The series was primarily filmed at the picturesque Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria, with additional scenes shot in the baroque rooms of Wentworth Woodhouse, near Rotherham.

It hits UK screens in April on Sky Max.

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