Rachel Weisz has previously spoken out on the much-discussed “Disobedience” s-x scene, calling it a “fundamental and empowering moment” for the characters played by Rachel McAdams and herself, and now McAdams offers her thoughts on the scene that everyone can’t stop talking about. In a joint interview with Weisz for Entertainment Weekly, the actress acknowledged that the s-x scene is crucial to the growth of her character. Esti, played by Rachel McAdams, is an Orthodox Jew who has been oppressed by her faith. The character’s first great moment of liberation occurs during the s-x scene.

“Often, you’re trying to decide if it’s gratuitous or not. But this scene felt so integral to the plot and moving the story forward,” McAdams, 39, said. “The characters need this release to open up… There was energy to that scene that I haven’t experienced in any other sex scenes [with men] in my career.”

McAdams reasoned that they felt ‘safe and free’ as two women working together. McAdams explained to EW. ‘There was energy to that scene that I haven’t experienced in any other sex scenes [with men] in my career. There was camaraderie to it.’

‘All those things that you love about being a woman, you get to be with [in the scene], so I understand the attraction and appeal to that in a s-xual context.’

Director Sebastián Lelio storyboarded the whole s-x scene so the performers would know precisely what to expect and what would be shot. From the actresses swapping saliva till the org@sm, she described how Lelio orchestrated the moves.

“In that moment, Esti’s org@sm is both a sexual release and a metaphorical release to freedom, it’s like she’s free to find out who she really is,” Weisz remarked.

Weisz also praised the ‘massively important and beautiful’ sequence, explaining that the director’s rigorous directions result in a better end result.

She said: ‘You get in the bed and in my case it’s always with men and you see what happens – it can come out a bit meaningless and generalized.’

The sex scene, according to McAdams, was shot on a closed set. Despite being aware of everyone in the room “who’s clothed, holding a boom, and snacking on trail mix or whatever,” McAdams realized that the s-x scene was simply another moment they needed to record, one that should be as vulnerable as any other.

“Everyone was very quiet and there was such warmth in the room. It was a wonderful day,” McAdams remarked. “[I] realized that I was doing a scene like any other scene. They should all make you feel vulnerable, some more than others, but they should all be risky. In became another day at work, in that way.”

When asked if playing a lesbian character was difficult, McAdams replied she never considered Esti to be different from that standpoint.

“I knew we were telling a lesbian story and that was necessary to concentrate on, but beyond that it’s just humans being with humans,” McAdams said. “I didn’t’ think of it as gay versus straight, only in that there was unfair oppression of their love and sexuality… I don’t think I concentrated on that so much.”

In an interview with Lena Dunham’s online publication Lenny Letter, the two discussed the value of working alongside other women.

‘As a woman, you’re often the object of the man’s desire, or he’s the object of yours, but I felt like there was something just so different about the female gaze,’ Weisz reasoned.

McAdams remarked, ‘Energetically, it was very different. We had great communication, and there was a very vulnerable, open, gentle, intelligent feeling to everything.

‘We talked about the safety of it as well, doing a love scene. That was a very different love scene than I’ve ever done before, and it was the most kind of raw and vulnerable love-making scene I’ve ever done.

‘And yet at the same time, I felt incredibly safe and cared for and free to explore.’