Lust in space
In ‘Passengers,’ their travelers had 90 years to kill — awkwardly
In the final frontier, Lawrence and Pratt find that spacesuits can really get in the way
Things can get bumpy making a space romance.
Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence found this out as they explored their characters’ intergalactic relationship for the sci-fi adventure Passengers (in theaters Wednesday).
Right away, they had to overcome kiss-prohibiting spacesuits.
After an out-of-this-world first date (they went spacewalking) for Lawrence’s Aurora Lane and Pratt’s Jim Preston, the two went in for the couple’s first screen kiss. Just like in the script. But the bulky spacesuit chest plates prevented lip-lock.
“We didn’t know that was going to happen. So they called ‘action.’ And we went to kiss. And it was like, Donk! Donk!” says Lawrence, re-creating the sound of knocking spacesuits. “Our heads couldn’t reach each other. We had a good laugh about it, and we incorporated it into the movie.”
Scenes that take place before the romance starts were almost simple for the charismatic superduo, who join forces onscreen for the first time in Passengers. Stranded together on a spaceship when their sleep pods malfunction, waking them up 90 years before they reach their destination, the characters make the best of a bad situation — grooving on a Dance Machine game and enjoying the ship’s droid-manned restaurants, basketball court and gorgeous Art Deco bar.
“That portion was the most natural and fun,” Pratt says. “When these two characters are falling for each other, enjoying each other’s company, it was easy acting.”
But when the romance kicked in, it got tougher — such as a scene in which Aurora knocks over a cafeteria meal and crawls across the tiny table to Pratt for impromptu lovemaking. Looks sexy onscreen; not so much on the set. Though Lawrence, who’s known for some klutzy moments, had no problem navigating the table.
“That’s not a problem when I’m horny,” Lawrence snorts. “Sorry.” “She is a lioness,” Pratt concurs. “I just kept thinking it was a waste of food,” she says.
Pratt says these highly technical scenes were shot in small sections and weren’t fun. Especially “weird” was a moment, cut from the movie, when he was charged with rocking the table to give the illusion of carnal activity for the cameras panning down.
“So I was sitting there at the table eating,” Lawrence says.
Pratt: “I was surfing on the table, trying to simulate some sort of sex.”
Lawrence: “Sex scenes are the most unsexy things in the world.”
One part of Passengers was as sexy during as it is onscreen: Pratt’s derrière, fully exposed in a shower scene.
“I was pretty proud of that. It was like, ‘Yeah,’ ” Pratt says of his hard-earned hard bottom.
He’s all about staying in great shape to look and feel healthy, “but there’s a slightly more intense motivation for working out, which is to look good naked,” he says. “That’s much harder to do, it’s harder to maintain, and, honestly, not probably worth it for what’s required.
“Unless you’re going to be in a film in front of millions of people.”