SEX, LIFE AND A WAY TO FIND LOVE
Adam Demos went from being an Australian farmer and steelworker to an international sex symbol alongside co-star and now partner Sarah Shahi in Netflix hit Sex/life
Adam Demos’ piercing blue eyes light up when he recalls the moment that changed his life. It was January 16, 2020 – the day he was cast in a new Netflix show called Sex/life. He didn’t realise at the time but the actor from Wollongong, who had got his break in popular US drama Unreal, was about to explode globally.
“I did an audition, a self tape for it with a friend of mine and went through the motions,’’ he says.
“The creator of Sex/life was the showrunner of seasons three and four of Unreal so she already knew me and we had a relationship. Obviously a lot of people put their hat in the ring for that one, it was a new show and then I still remember, I was driving from Sydney to Wollongong to put down another audition and got a call from all my reps over there (in the US). Stacy (Rukeyser), the showrunner, then called and I was on loudspeaker with her and all the writers and they were screaming I got the role. It was so cool.”
No one could have predicted the success of Sex/life, or specifically, the buzz around Demos. He co-starred with US actor Sarah Shahi and they filmed countless raunchy scenes in the bitter cold of Toronto, Canada.
Sex/life was released in mid 2021 and viewers went into a frenzy over its steamy storylines but also Demos’s full-frontal shower moment in episode three. His manhood was the talk of Hollywood gossip sites with every talk show asking – was it real or prosthetic? Sex/life quickly became the No.1 show on Netflix.
“When you’re shooting these things you don’t think they’re going to be a viral moment,’’ he says.
“I don’t even think Tiktok was around or that popular. Then it becomes its own thing and everyone now knows it’s a prosthetic. I think that was part of the intrigue. It was all this good-humoured speculation and you just have to have a laugh. My mates have ammunition on me forever with that scene. They think it was hilarious.”
Demos is still in awe at the success of the series intermittently filmed during Covid and which was later renewed for a second season.
His profile skyrocketed and suddenly he had over a million followers on Instagram and was a global sex symbol.
The new season premiered last month and quickly shot to No.1 again.
“I hear that people have a great time on sets but you don’t know what’s going to resonate with people,” he says. “Shooting Sex/life was one of the most incredible experiences, creatively we all felt it was special, because you can relate to all the characters in certain ways. But that doesn’t mean it will translate to audience numbers but when it did it was like, ‘what the hell just happened’.
“It was probably -2 degrees and we’re naked in this pool and it’s snowing in parts. You’re trying to make it look sexy but it was freezing. We shot for two weeks and then shut down. I was away for a year, everyone else was either Canadian or American and I was the only Australian. They said two weeks to stop the spread (of Covid) so I didn’t fly home and then it was five months later.
“Sarah went back to LA during Covid and everyone just went their separate ways and I was on my own there.
“It wasn’t as hard as you think because I was only assuming it was two weeks at a time that we’d be delayed. Then I felt so fortunate because at a time when no one was working we got to go back and film. I felt beyond grateful.
“I think you’re the luckiest person in the world if you can call acting your job if you love acting – but at a time when no one had employment, it was a real gift.”
The other unexpected reward for Demos was finding the love of his life in Shahi.
She was previously married to actor Steve Howey with whom she shares two sons and a daughter. He says he just clicked with the mother of three. They live together in LA now and often talk about the future and their forever love.
“We started to get to know each other and you hear about a lot of people who get together when they film and then it ends, and they go their separate ways,’’ he says.
It’s hard for my family to watch Sex/life. It’s hard for my mum ... she has to watch with her hands over her eyes