Summary

• Anyone But You's shower scene added sensuality lacking in modern movies, avoiding Hollywood's sexless problem.
• Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell's chemistry in intimate moments made the shower scene and film successful.
• Filming the shower scene was challenging, but Sweeney and Powell's trust and teamwork were key to its success.

Anyone But You stars Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell as Bea and Ben, who, after meeting at a coffee shop, come across again months later when they attend the same wedding in Sydney, Australia.

As it turns out, Bea’s sister is marrying the sister of Ben’s best friend, so they are forced to spend a couple of days at the same house. After her parents reveal they invited her ex-fiancé, Jonathan, and Ben reunites with his old crush, Margaret, Bea and Ben agree to fake being together, so Bea’s parents will leave her alone and Ben can get Margaret’s attention. Anyone But You is full of fun moments made better by the undeniable chemistry between Sweeney and Powell, which also made their most intimate moments better, and the shower scene even fixed a big problem in modern movies.

Hollywood's Problem With Major Movies Being So Sexless Explained

Hollywood Can’t Find A Good Balance For Steamy Scenes

There have been complaints of major, commercial movies forgetting some of the most human and real elements of characters, such as sexuality.

Anyone But You has a couple of scenes between Bea and Ben where their chemistry is palpable, but the one that’s widely considered the hottest in the whole movie is the shower scene. During a party on a boat, Bea falls into Sydney Harbour and Ben jumps to save her. While waiting to be rescued, Bea and Ben connect at a more personal level, and after a quick dinner together back at the house, they have sex. What starts in the kitchen is later taken to the shower, and although this scene was brief, it was done so well that it had a huge impact on the audience.

Anyone But You’s shower scene stands out because it avoids Hollywood’s problem of major movies being sexless. For years, there have been complaints of major, commercial movies forgetting some of the most human and real elements of characters, such as sexuality. There’s a lot of emphasis on the characters looking good all the time, but they're quite bland and sexless, regardless of the movie’s genre, though it’s a problem best exemplified in action and superhero movies. Despite being given love interests, filmmakers are more interested in their superheroes and action stars looking good rather than actually connecting with said love interests and being attracted to them at more intimate levels.

Characters in modern, major movies are supposed and even expected to be hot but not in a way that will spark desire in the audience and their on-screen partners, and in the past, it was the other way around: characters were desired without them having what’s considered by societal standards as “the perfect body”. While there have been movies that found a balance between their characters being physically attractive and sexy, these are often seen in smaller movies rather than in big productions that are made to be box-office hits.

How Anyone But You's Shower Scene (& Other Moments) Avoid Hollywood's Problem

Anyone But You Found A Good Balance In Its Hottest Scenes

Bea and Ben are both sensual and sexual in the kitchen, shower, and bedroom scenes in Anyone But You, showing the attraction and chemistry between them.

Anyone But You didn’t sacrifice sensuality and sexuality in its shower scene and other intimate moments between Bea and Ben. It’s undeniable that Sweeney and Powell are some of the most attractive actors in modern Hollywood, and their on-screen chemistry was key in Anyone But You avoiding Hollywood’s sexless and “bland” problem. Bea and Ben are both sensual and sexual in the kitchen, shower, and bedroom scenes in Anyone But You, showing the attraction and chemistry between them without focusing on showing off their bodies all the time.

The same sensuality and sexuality found in the shower scene can be seen between Bea and Ben in other moments throughout Anyone But You, though not as intensely as in the shower scene. The chemistry between these characters and the obvious attraction is palpable since their first night together at Ben’s apartment, and the more time they spend together and the more they connect, the more intense this is, which also helps make their scenes together a lot more realistic than most rom-coms.

What Sydney Sweeney & Glen Powell Have Said About Filming Anyone But You's Shower Scene

Filming Anyone But You’s Shower Scene Wasn’t Easy

The combination of the awkwardness on set and the trust between Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell while filming Anyone But You’s shower scene was ultimately key to its success.

Despite the chemistry between Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, filming Anyone But You’s shower scene wasn’t easy, but that makes it even better. Speaking to E! News ahead of Anyone But You’s release in December 2023, Powell and Sweeney opened up about the challenges they faced while filming the shower scene (which was teased in the trailers). Sweeney itted there’s “always an awkward moment”, as you’re “so close to someone other than the 40 crew ” watching the scene being filmed. Powell shared this sentiment and said there were other people on the set “weighing in” on what they should do in that scene.

Powell added that his chemistry with Sweeney made the whole experience of filming Anyone But You easier, and if you get through a rom-com and look “cool, you’re doing it all wrong”. Powell explained that having a teammate like Sweeney and being able to be their "goofiest, dumbest, most stripped-down selves" together was the key to their on-screen chemistry. The combination of the awkwardness on set and the trust between Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell while filming Anyone But You’s shower scene was ultimately key to its success and that of the movie, while avoiding a major modern Hollywood problem.

Source: E! News.