Art sometimes imitates life, especially for Babygirl director Halina Reijn.
Her erotic thriller Babygirl has received rave reviews, and Reijn, 49, has now revealed that the touching scene in which Nicole Kidman’s character drinks a glass of milk was actually inspired by real-life events.
The film follows a “high-powered CEO who risks her career and family when she begins a torrid affair with her much younger intern,” according to IMDB.
In the scene, Harris Dickinson’s character Samuel has already caught the attention of Kidman’s Romy, and the two are enjoying a few drinks after work.
While Romy is sitting at a table with her classmates, a waiter brings her a glass of milk and leaves it on the table.
Although confused at first, Romy then looks up and sees Samuel drinking the entire glass and realizes that he had ordered the drink for her.
As she steps out into the night, Samuel whispers to her, “Good girl,” setting the stage for the sexual and physical mind games that follow.
Reijn spoke about what inspired the sensual scene during an interview with w magazine, and revealed that something similar had happened to him years ago, when he was 30 years old.
Babygirl director Halina Reijn has revealed that the touching scene in which Nicole Kidman’s character drinks a glass of milk was actually inspired by real-life events.
The director and actress recalled going out for drinks after one of her theater performances, when a famous Belgian actor, who she said was “much younger” than her, sent her a glass of milk.
“I drank it and he just left,” she recalled.
“I thought, ‘How does this guy get courage?'” he continued. “I thought it was something very sensual. And I thought it was very funny.’
Reijn also discussed the casting of the film, which opened in theaters on Christmas Day, discussing the age difference between Kidman, 58, and Dickinson, 28.
When the issue of age differences in more recent films like Amazon Prime Video’s The Idea Of You was raised, Halina said: “If we see a movie where the male actor is the same age as the female actress, we find it strange.” “.
‘Which is crazy. It should be completely normalized for age differences to change and for women to have different relationships.’
Reijn continued: ‘We are no longer trapped in a box. We internalize the male gaze, we internalize patriarchy and we need to free ourselves from it. It’s really difficult.’
Plus, she reflected on how she ended up casting both Kidman and Dickinson for Babygirl.
Reijn, 49, spoke about the sensual scene in a recent interview with W magazine, admitting that it had actually happened to her years ago, when she was 30 years old.
Reijn also discussed casting for the film, which opened in theaters on Christmas Day, and discussed the age difference between Kidman, 58, and her co-star Harris Dickinson, 28.
The film follows a “high-powered CEO who puts her career and family at risk when she begins a torrid affair with her much younger intern,” according to IMDB.
The filmmaker revealed that the actress had approached her after watching her 2019 film Instinct.
Halina explained that Kidman “read an early draft of Babygirl and immediately said, ‘I want to play that character.'” She also said she wanted to give up and not change anything.
“That was important to me, because I knew I wrote something controversial and, at least for me, surrounded by shame,” he said.
“I needed someone to be as brave as the script tries to be.”
He admitted that once Kidman “was on board, she woke up in a complete panic.”
‘We had one of the best actors in the world. “It is impossible to find a young man who is not only as good as her, but can also dominate her,” he added.
‘But then I saw Harris in Triangle Of Sadness. He’s so vulnerable, but so masculine and macho. He’s kind of an ideal man, because he has all these layers.’