Network or streaming, things are always the same level of McSteamy for Shonda Rhimes.
Shonda Rhimes and great sex on television are practically synonymous.
The woman coined the terms “va-jay-jay,” “McDreamy,” and “McSteamy” while showering us with lots of hot doctor break-room sex on Grey’s Anatomy, turned TGIThursdays on ABC into Thirsty Thursdays, and then took her skills to Netflix, where she produced a franchise that brought spoon-licking and library sexcapades to new levels on Bridgerton.
Now, Rhimes is bringing sexy back in her own writing with Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, a prequel in the Bridgerton-verse that features its own share of bodice ripping — look out for the “even days” montage between Charlotte (India Amarteifio) and George (Corey Mylchreest) amid many other sexy moments.
But does Rhimes find writing for Netflix, where network censors aren’t breathing down her neck about sexual content on primetime television, freeing? The truth is that she never even thinks about it.
“What’s funny [is] I don’t write them any differently,” she tells EW. “I really don’t. I’m kind of a prude. So, what I write into the scenes is what I want the audience to get in terms of the character emotions or the character story that’s playing out. I basically write like, ‘This is how we want them to feel.'”
All those steamy moments that have you reaching to rewind? They’re the work of intimate coordinators and not merely the enactment of Rhimes’ ribald scenarios. Instead, she focuses on how the sex scenes advance plot and characters, leaving the exact choreography to the actors and their particular comfort zone.
“I’m very strongly for the fact that we have intimate coordinators, who can then work with the actors to make sure they’re comfortable in doing everything,” she added. “I always say, ‘If you wanna do a love scene in a snowsuit, do a love scene in a snowsuit, we’ll figure it out.’ To let them have that freedom is really empowering for actors.”
