Henry Cavill Reveals Why He’s ‘Not a Fan’ of Sex Scenes in Movies & TV

'I think sometimes they’re overused these days,' Henry Cavill said about sex scenes on Josh Horowitz's podcast.

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Henry Cavill is “not a fan” of sex scenes. The Justice League actor, 40, appeared on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast on February 5 and argued why he thinks intimate scenes in movies and television shows aren’t necessary. “I don’t understand them – I’m not a fan,” he said. “There are circumstances where a sex scene actually is beneficial to a movie, rather than just the audience, but I think sometimes they’re overused these days.”

“It’s when you have a sense where you’re going, ‘Is this really necessary or is it just people with less clothing on?’ ” Henry continued. “And that’s when you start to get more uncomfortable, and you’re thinking, ‘There’s not a performance here. There’s not a piece which is going to carry through to the rest of the movie.’ ”

The Argylle star noted that the occasional use of sex scenes can be beneficial for a project, but overall he doesn’t think they’re needed as much as they’re being used in Hollywood.

“Sex scenes can be great in a movie, they can really help with the storytelling. Most of the time, the human imagination is gonna trump it, and so I think it can be a little bit of a copout if a TV show or a movie is just filled with gyrating bodies, and you’re going ‘Okay? But what is this doing for us?’ ” he said. “Apart from the idea of like, ‘Ooo, naked person, great.’ ”

Matthew Vaughn, who directed Henry in Argylle, and appeared on the podcast with him, agreed with the actor’s takes on sex scenes. “I agree, or are we just English prudes?” Matthew asked. “Perhaps … I’m not a fan of doing them,” Henry said with a laugh.

Henry Cavill
Henry Cavill at the ‘Argylle’ press conference in South Korea (Photo: The Chosunilbo JNS/Imazins via Getty Images)

Henry is no stranger to appearing in sometimes-raunchy film and TV projects. However, he has no sex scenes in Matthew’s new spy action comedy film that was released in theaters on February 1. Henry plays a James Bond-like agent in the movie opposite a star-studded cast including Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, Samual L. Jackson, and John Cena.