Reese Witherspoon ‘Didn’t Have Control’ Over ‘Fear’ Sex Scene at 19 Years Old: ‘I Said No. It Wasn’t a Particularly Great Experience’

Reese Witherspoon said in a new interview with Harpers Bazaar that filming a sex scene at 19 years old for the 1996 thriller Fear was not a particularly great experience. Directed by James Foley, Fear stars Witherspoon as a teenager who falls for a sinister young man played by Mark Wahlberg. One of the films buzziest scenes centers on Witherspoons character having an orgasm on a rollercoaster while being pleasured by Mark Wahlbergs character.

I didnt have control over it, Witherspoon said about filming the sex scene, adding that she requested a stunt double be used for the below-the-waist shots. It wasnt explicit in the script that thats what was going to happen, so that was something that I think the director thought of on his own and then asked me on set if I would do it, and I said no. It wasnt a particularly great experience.

Im certainly not traumatized or anything by it, but it was formative, Witherspoon added. It made me understand where my place was in the pecking order of filmmaking. I think its another one of those stories that made me want to be an agent for change and someone who maybe can be in a better leadership position to tell stories from a female perspective instead of from the male gaze.

Prioritizing the female gaze has become a calling card of Witherspoons production company Hello Sunshine, which has backed high-profile projects centered on female leads such as Gone Girl, Wild, Big Little Lies, Where the Crawdads Sing and recent Emmy nominee Daisy Jones the Six.

Elsewhere in her Harpers interview, Witherspoon remembered losing out on desired leading roles in Clueless and Baz Luhrmanns Romeo + Juliet.

Oh my God, I wanted to do Romeo + Juliet so badly, so badly, Witherspoon said. Of course, Claire Danes was amazing, but it was devastating to me that I didnt get it after screen tests and getting really close.

Next up for Witherspoon is a return to The Morning Show, her Apple TV+ drama series that is premiering a third season this September.