Scarlett Johansson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt star opposite one another in the Gordon-Levitt penned and directed feature debut Don Jon. In the film, Gordon-Levitt plays Jon, a young New Jersey guy in a committed relationship with the sultry Barbara – played by Johansson – that can’t seem to shake his penchant for porn and eyeing other women up and down. Both Johansson and Gordon-Levitt dished about shooting the movie’s racy sex scenes and its the theme of objectification in an exclusive interview with uInterview.

Don Jon’s sex scenes are getting a lot of attention, not surprisingly since they feature two of Hollywood’s most popular stars. And while they might be scintillating on screen, getting that effect isn’t an easy task. “The scenes are really choreographed, like pretty heavily choreographed, because it’s important how Barbara uses her body and how these two characters connect and then they kind of disconnect and the sort of dance between them,” Johansson revealed. “There were very specific points that had to be hit so that can take the magic out of it a little bit. But, you know, we kept it pretty steamy.”

Both Johansson and Gordon-Levitt experience their fair share of objectification from being in the movie industry – from people wanting to be them, to people wanting to date them. For Gordon-Levitt, that experience in the spotlight led him to the idea for the Don Jon script. “Look, I love movies but movies aren’t real life and real life is so much more beautiful and rich with detail and nuance than any movie could ever be. Even a great movie,” Gordon-Levitt told uInterview exclusively. “And you’ll miss it. You’ll miss all that good stuff if you’re busy comparing your life to what you’ve seen on a screen and so that’s a lot of what I wanted to poke fun at.”

Johansson agreed with her costar, explaining that she’s used to being objectified as a woman as well as someone in the public eye – understandings she brought to the role of Barbara, which Gordon-Levitt believed she nailed. “I remember the very, very, very first time that we sat down to start rehearsing, and I first heard you do the character and speak in that accent,” the actor-writer-director said, speaking to his costar. “I instantly knew, I was like, ‘I knew it! I was right! I knew she was going to kill this.’”

Don Jon is scheduled to hit theaters Friday, Sept. 27.

– Chelsea Regan

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