Summary

Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate break down their most nerve-wracking scenes in Dying for Sex.

The duo reveals why they felt “liberated” by playing their characters.

The pair also discusses their instant chemistry and the importance of female friendship.

Michelle Williams is primarily known for her dramatic work, accumulating a whopping five Oscar nominations for films like Brokeback Mountain, Manchester by the Sea, and — most recently — The Fabelmans. Jenny Slate, on the other hand, is best recognized for her comedic turns in projects such as Obvious Child, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and animated shows like Bob’s Burgers and Big Mouth. Despite their vastly different bodies of work, the two play one of the most convincing friendships I’ve ever seen onscreen in Dying for Sex, which seamlessly combines drama and comedy while throwing in some wild but shockingly grounded romance.
Based on a true story first covered in a Wondery podcast of the same name, the series follows a woman named Molly (Williams), who, after being diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, ends her marriage of a decade and a half in order to discover what she likes in the world — and in the bedroom. Over the course of eight episodes, Molly connects with an array of people with various kinky interests, though the one constant throughout — and the true love story of the show — lies in the relationship between her and her best friend Nikki (Slate).
Collider got the chance to speak to Williams and Slate about the hilarious and heartbreaking series. The two revealed the scenes they were most nervous about filming, the instant bond they developed, the important role female friendships play in their own lives, and more.
Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate Reveal Their Most Nerve-Wracking ‘Dying for Sex’ Scenes

Image via FX

COLLIDER: First of all, congratulations on the show — I genuinely loved it so much. I love the fact that it has this really sharp comedy but also this really sort of intense emotional drama. I’m curious, for both of you, which scene were you most nervous about approaching, and then which scene ultimately ended up being the most challenging for you?
MICHELLE WILLIAMS: I’d never masturbated before on camera. That was a new one for me, so I was feeling pretty nervy when those scenes came up. They were also the first ones that we did. They were like at the end of the day. If you’ve already done, like, six scenes, you’re like, “Oh god, now I have to go masturbate six different ways. Okay.”
JENNY SLATE: That’s not how you should feel when you’re going into that.
WILLIAMS: [Laughs] No.
SLATE: Yeah, it’s tough.
WILLIAMS: But then you just sort of start rolling with it, and you break past the fear factor, and then — all of a sudden — you’re in the drama of the scene and also in like the hilarity of what Liz Meriwether has written. And when I saw the framing of those masturbation sequences and what it cuts to — what you see that she’s masturbating to — I was like, “Oh, I’m obsessed. I’m obsessed with this. Oh, I can’t wait.”
SLATE: I think that — I mean, this is hyper-specific — but I was sort of nervous about slapping my butt in the scene where Nikki is getting really mad at Doctor P., Doctor Pankowitz, for calling her Laura because I really don’t like being rude. There’s a lot about being Nikki that was very liberating for me. I genuinely enjoyed being able to yell at people and understand that, from inside of Nikki, she has a real sense of justice. She doesn’t just yell at everybody. She does it when she thinks something is wasteful, she thinks something is inappropriate or unjust — and certainly on behalf of Molly. But yeah, I was like, “Oh, I can’t slap my butt to David — this wonderful man.” But in fact, not only did I slap it, I also ended up doing other stuff with my butt, and it turned out I felt very liberated by that as well. The show really let me off my leash. Not that I was not already sort of off it, but yeah.
Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate Break Down Their Instant Chemistry in ‘Dying for Sex’

Image via FX

I love it. Both incredible answers. A big part of why I really love this show is it feels like the friendship between Molly and Nikki is really the core love story, which isn’t something you see very often. You guys have such a wonderful dynamic, so I’m curious how you sort of developed that chemistry with each other. Because it does feel so natural. I feel like you guys have been friends for years.
WILLIAMS: It’s so funny, right? It’s always like the best friendship is in service of getting the guy, and it’s the B storyline. This, I think, spoke so deeply to both of us, who have long-standing besties, and so we recognize that a female best friendship is a passionate love affair. It’s a place where all sides are welcome and adored and actually even more so — the things that are so hard to say or so hard to show are the things that you can really let out.
SLATE: The more you bring, the better it is. You add to the work.
WILLIAMS: Yeah, the deeper the relationship gets. The better the relationship gets. And every time you offer another facet of yourself, it gets more love shined on it, and really it is a place where you can feel whole. We each have our experiences of that, and so I think in honor of our own best friendships… And then, you know, also this happened. [Gestures to them holding hands, both wearing white, and having a similar haircut] Suddenly, we dress the same, and we have the same haircut.
SLATE: We walked out of our little doors this morning and were like, “Oh!”
WILLIAMS: [Gasps]
SLATE: “Okay!” It’s very exciting. There’s a bit of a spellbinding going on. I wish I could… actually, I don’t wish I could say, “They put Michelle and I on a road trip together.” I really do feel that there was a lot at stake in this project. First of all, everyone working on it is incredible and exciting to encounter, and also, Nikki and Molly are real people. This is a story about the most intense, intense, intense thing that happened between them — although, I guess their entire relationship was intense and bonded. But I do think that, even with high stakes, we had the great script, we had our own motivations for being there, but you can’t create a magnetic force. It does have to kind of occur between the two humans, and I really am thankful. I bow down to whatever helps me connect, and it will always be really exciting to me that Michelle and I, we did hook in, but then it kept getting more and more. We kept building on it, and that is what I hope to get out of my creative work. I mean, and out of my life, too.
All episodes of Dying for Sex are now available to stream on Hulu.

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