Why Riley Keough Didn't Like Filming With Her Husband Ben Smith-Petersen
Riley Keough and her husband Ben Smith-Petersen met in 2012 on the set of "Mad Max: Fury Road." Keough was cast as one of the wives, and Smith-Petersen was a stuntman for the action movie. They were engaged by August 2014 and were married by February 2015. Throughout the years, they've posted several pictures with each other on social media. On January 22, 2023, it was revealed that the couple welcomed their first child.
Keough previously mentioned that the two hadn't started dating until after the regular shooting ended, but she knew pretty much right away that she had a future with the stuntman. "Two weeks into dating him, we were at a gas station and I was like, 'I could see myself having kids with this person,' " she told USA Today. "It was kind of like I knew I was meeting my husband. It was very cool."
She then explained that she wasn't necessarily looking for a serious relationship when she met Smith-Petersen, as she had just broken up with someone. But the stuntman's maturity won her over. "He just felt more grown up and there was something about him," she told Vogue Australia. "I was like, 'Oh wow.' He felt so much more mature." Although it's clear that Keough has a lot of love for her husband, she didn't hold back on how awkward it was to film intimate scenes with him for "Daisy Jones & The Six."
Filming an intimate scene with her husband felt awkward
On February 23, Riley Keough revealed that her husband, Ben Smith-Petersen, has a cameo in "Daisy Jones & The Six." Although the actor didn't give a lot away about the scene at the time, she told Entertainment Tonight that it was the producers who came up with the idea to have him make a surprise appearance in the show. "They were like, 'Do you want Ben to do this?'" she recalled. "And I was like, 'Yeah, that's hilarious.'"
And during an interview on "Late Night with Seth Meyers," Keough gave a small spoiler as to what kind of scene she filmed with her husband, revealing that it was a sex scene. Meyers asked if having her husband playing opposite her made things more or less awkward. "It was more awkward," she replied. "I think they were thinking it would be less awkward, and then we got there and they're like, 'This is really uncomfortable.'"
She then explained that it was weird having "pretend sex" with Smith-Petersen. "Typically when you do these things, and it's somebody coming in for the day, it's very professional," she added. "But with him, we were just giggling the whole time." She then mentioned that having the film crew around them during the scene, plus the fact that her character is not supposed to enjoy the intimate moment, made things even more awkward.
Intimate scenes with spouses are common in Hollywood
Viola Davis and Julius Tennon had to film an intimate scene with each other for "How to Get Away with Murder," and Davis said in an interview on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" that it felt "safe" to film the scene with her husband. She then went on to explain that Tennon had to take her underwear off, but she forgot to "reset" them for one take. That prompted Tennon to call her out for it. When Kimmel asked if that was "professional" of him to do, Davis responded: "It was for me."
Before their messy divorce, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt once had to film an intimate scene with each other for "By the Sea." Jolie told Entertainment Weekly (via Red) at the time that filming a sex scene with her husband was the "strangest thing in the world." She then mentioned that they would often laugh at the "absurdity" of it all to make things less awkward.
Although Riley Keough and Ben Smith-Petersen felt awkward during the filming of their intimate scene in "Daisy Jones & The Six," it seems that the love transcends the awkwardness, as they are completely in love with each other. It's clear that they support each other through thick and thin, and that they share the same values in life, which makes their relationship strong.