Warning: This post contains spoilers for Dying for Sex.
Costars Michelle Williams and Rob Delaney shared lots of tears on the set of the hilarious yet heartbreaking FX limited series Dying for Sex.
While speaking to PEOPLE, the two opened up about how they supported each other through one particularly difficult scene to film: when their characters, Molly and Guy, interact for the first time by masturbating together through a wall.
Adapted from Nikki Boyer’s podcast of the same name by co-creators Kim Rosenstock and Elizabeth Meriwether, Dying for Sex follows Molly as she goes on a sexual exploration — determined to have her first orgasm — following her terminal diagnosis of stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.
After leaving her husband (Jay Duplass) and moving into her own apartment, Molly has a brief encounter before the two start exploring her sexual desires. And this is when the two share this erotic moment through a shared wall in their building.
Looking back on filming that moment, Williams, 44, says, “It’s actually maybe a little bit more uncomfortable to do a masturbation scene in front of a crew than it is to do a partnered sexual scene with somebody in front of a crew.”
Rob Delaney on ‘Dying for Sex’.
Sarah Shatz/FX
In this instance, Delaney, 48, was supposed to be on the opposite side of the wall, meaning that the two initially didn’t have to film it together. However, Williams recalls asking him to be on set when she shot her side of the scene.
“It’s a very strange thing to ask somebody to do off-camera. Like, ‘Will you be behind the wall? Can I hear you? Can we sort of be doing this together, as it is in the script? Would you be here for me in this way?’ And he said yes,” she tells PEOPLE.
“And so, he gave me a scene partner in this way that made me feel less alone and more comfortable and more taken care of. And when it was over, I walked around the fake wall and just held him and cried and said how grateful I was to know that he was there for me in that way,” the actress continues, while Delaney notes that he “cried a lot on set.”
“So that’s who he is, that’s who he shows up as. And that’s how we continue our professional and personal relationships. We’ll just tell each other exactly where we are and what we need,” Williams shares.
Adding to that, Delany says, “That was a weird and difficult scene to shoot. We had just met each other and she took that masturbating through a wall scene so deadly seriously in a wonderful way.”
“I was like, ‘Okay, I’ve seen a bit under the hood of what makes her tick.’ And it was a great way to start,” the actor shares.
From Left: Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate on ‘Dying for Sex’.
Sarah Shatz/FX
Not only that, but it created this safe and supportive environment for the two costars who would go on to film even more intense, erotic and emotionally raw scenes together as Molly and Guy’s sexual relationship develops throughout the eight-episode series.
“When I heard he was doing this project, I was so unbelievably moved that he was willing to join us on this journey that didn’t have a middle and ending. It just had a beginning really for all of us, but also for Rob, whose character likes to be humiliated sexually,” the Fosse/Verdon star says.
“So he just signed on knowing that and only that. And so already, I thought, ‘Wow. Like the humility and bravery and the vulnerability and the humor — because I know his work — everything he’s bringing to this, I’m so moved by this person showing up,'” she continues, adding that as a result, “I will meet him in the exact place that he is and that we will be together.”
“She’s as good as it gets,” the Deadpool actor says. “And so one thing I’ve noticed — because I always observe people that I admire and try to emulate them — is the generosity of her as a performer and person is pretty sky high.”
Delaney adds that Williams “wants you to be great in the scene,” so much so “that she zeroes in on you with laser focus and is so present with you before, during and after a scene.” Appreciative of that, the actor says, “That was a big clue for me” as it related to how they were going to work together on set during this series.
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Dying for Sex is now streaming on Hulu.
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