How does Hollywood see you, Elle? And is it how you want to be seen?

ELLE FANNING When I was 14, I was cast as Sleeping Beauty in Maleficent, and that phone call definitely changed my life and my trajectory and it differentiated me from my sister [Dakota]. That role is very important to me, but also it’s a Disney princess, and I’m this blond and it comes with a certain stigma, right? And that’s the biggest movie I’ve done, so I’m recognized most for it. What was exciting for me about The Great was getting to try out the comedy world. People think of me as doing these serious, dramatic roles or just playing the kid, and I feel like I’m a funny person in real life and I love shocking people and proving that I’m not exactly who they think I am.

Elle, there are a lot of sex scenes in The Great, but there’s considerably more male nudity than female. How does that change a dynamic on set?

FANNING It’s interesting, Catherine the Great, in real life, was kind of the first woman who was slut-shamed. I mean, the whole horse rumor [that she possibly had sex with a horse] was created because she loved sex, she was very open and had multiple lovers. Obviously, our story is not a historical document, but a lot of truths are in it, and that’s a big part of Catherine’s character, so sex is incorporated into the show a lot. And of course it’s a period show, so we’re corseted up with multiple layers of skirts and just the logistics of actually getting naked — for the women, it takes a long time. So everyone’s just having fully clothed sex. It’s like, “All right, girls, we’re going to just lift up your skirt, and that’s fine.” And there was an intimacy coordinator on set, which was new to me.

SEDARIS Wow.

FANNING Yeah, a woman who was there to make sure everyone felt comfortable and also made sure that the sex looked real. There would be times where Nick [Hoult] would be in the wrong position, and she’s like, “It doesn’t look like you’re doing it.” Her name was Ita and she made sure all the monitors were off when there were nude scenes, and obviously made sure no one did anything that they didn’t feel comfortable with. But it was hard to keep a straight face during those scenes with Nicholas Hoult. He’s hilarious, and I’d be biting down on a pillow when he’s having to thrust and say these lines. And I’m so happy that I had someone that I felt comfortable with, and we could actually be embarrassed in front of each other. That was something that was new for me.

SEDARIS I could never do anything like that.

THEDE What, sex scenes?

SEDARIS Sex scenes or get naked or pose in your underwear. Never. It just doesn’t interest me. It’s just not fun to me. [Source]