The first episode of HBO’s newest comedy goes full-frontal — literally. With what star Ophelia Lovibond calls the show’s “penis montage,” Minx is flipping the narrative when it comes to on-screen nudity.
“We haven’t really seen that before, and yet, we see so much female nudity. The balance has always been skewed in that direction,” Lovibond says of the current norms in regard to male versus female nudity in Hollywood. “It’s just a penis, it’s just nudity. Why are we attaching so much power to this thing?”
In Ellen Rapoport’Minx, the story follows Joyce (played by Lovibond), an earnest, young feminist who is determined to start a female-focused magazine amid the misogynist media landscape of 1970s Los Angeles. With the help of rough-around-the-edges but goodhearted porno mag publisher Doug (played by Jake Johnson), Joyce sees her fictional magazine come to life — as the first erotic magazine designed for women.
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Despite taking place 50 years ago, Minx’s themes resonate today, says Lovibond: “It’s set 50 years ago, and yet the issues are not historical. They are still current. We still experience misogyny.”
Lovibond has been working in the entertainment industry since she was a young girl — landing her first onscreen role at the age of 12 — and is known for her roles as Carina in Marvel’sGuardians of the Galaxy, Izzy Gould in the BBC’sW1A, and Kitty Winter in CBS’s Elementary.
Now, she’s headlining an HBO show. “If I’d come across this role maybe 10 years ago, I probably wouldn’t have quite been ready for it,” the English actress says. “It just came along at the right time.”
Ahead of the show’s premiere on March 17, The Hollywood Reporter spoke to Lovibond on all things Minx, including prosthetic penises.
The show takes place in Los Angeles in the 70s. Did you have to do any research into the time period? Where did you draw inspiration?
I am already inclined towards the sixties and the seventies, so visually, it’s not an aesthetic I’m unfamiliar with. But in terms of the immediate cultural references, I did have to look up things. Like, what’s the Rose Parade? There were lots of references that I wasn’t familiar with, but I did do a lot of research into the feminism immediately preceding whenMinx is set. I mean, I am a feminist, but I didn’t want to apply anything that wouldn’t have been discussed at that point. It was ‘71, ‘72, so I didn’t want to be talking about something that hadn’t actually developed yet. But I love doing that. I’m such a little history nerd. I also did lots of research about how she went to Vassar [College] and understanding what that would’ve been like and why she is the way she is.
I love the dynamic between you and Jake Johnson’s character, who plays your magazine publisher. What was it like working alongside him?
I had an absolute ball, honestly. He’s just the dream person to work with. He’s funny, he’s generous. He’s really kind, he’s patient. It’s been such an incredible experience, but the whole ensemble cast — we all completely lucked out because we hadn’t met before, and there was just immediate chemistry between all of us. Jake and I had worked together many years ago, very fleetingly in No Strings Attached. So we had met, but this is the first time we were seeing each other since. He walked into the trailer and was like, “What’s been happening the last 12 years?”
There’s a scene in the first episode where they are sitting in the diner, and he’s suggesting the idea that he become her publisher, and she finds the idea preposterous. That remains one of my favorite scenes. When I read the script, that scene jumped out at me because you’ve got such a clear idea of who these two people are. It kind of sets up the premise of the whole show. When Jake and I filmed that scene — it was so enjoyable, it was so effortless, bouncing back and forth. I just thought, ‘oh my God, this is gonna be so much fun, getting to work with him each day.’ And it really was. I just loved it. He’s a class act.
Despite the fact that Minx takes place in the ’70s, the show deals with issues of misogyny and sexism that still persist today. As a woman in Hollywood, what are you hoping for audiences to take away from those themes of feminism that are still so resonate, especially in media?
We still experience misogyny. The kinds of things that we’re talking about in the magazine are issues that are still happening at large today. The feminist issues that we’re talking about, it’s not shouting at people about it because that’s never the right way to invite people to listen to you, anyway. But it’s kind of inserting these ideas in a way that makes it more palatable for people to listen. Everyday sexism is a problem. Its insidious nature is the problem. And I think this show amplifies it to the point of absurdity, but it rings true. I hope maybe everyone, not just women, realizes that these problems are still happening and they shouldn’t be, so let’s address that.
It’s an HBO show about porn, so there’s a lot of full-frontal male nudity.
You’re welcome. (Laughs.)
How did you guys navigate that? Are the penises that we see on-screen real or are they prosthetic?
We have an intimacy coordinator, who of course ensures the safety of male performers, as well as women, obviously. But in terms of the penis montage, those performances were done privately. Then, we were invited in as a cast and directed to respond, but the performers were given privacy to do those scenes. With the other actors where there’s lots of full frontal nudity, lots of prosthetics were involved. Carleigh Herbert, our head of makeup, was fantastic. She built a lot of the phalluses, and they were very effective because the fact is we were starting in front of someone who’s naked, and they are performing in that way. It feels real and it should feel real. It was just all done very respectfully. Having intimacy coordinators really does make a difference. Ellen Rapaport, our showrunner, ensured that everyone felt safe and comfortable at all times. So it was done properly and it felt like a fun and safe set to be.
You mentioned the penis montage in the first episode. So that’s all real?
They’re real. It’s interesting anticipating the reaction that it’s gonna have. It’s remarkable, but it shouldn’t be remarkable. We haven’t really seen that before, and yet we see so much female nudity. The balance has always been skewed in that direction. We could go into lots of reasons as to why that is, but the fact is that there has always been an inclination towards that. As [Jake’s character] says, “There’s lots of places to see a pair of titties, but there’s nowhere to see a dong.” And so we are addressing that in balance for you, and you’re very welcome.
I noticed a parallel between how your character perceives male nudity, similarly to how we perceive it in our own society. She doesn’t quite get the idea at first, and it makes her uncomfortable.
Exactly. I totally agree. That was what I loved about the way her perspective shifts as she starts to understand that it’s just a penis, it’s just nudity. Why are we attaching so much power to this thing? There’s even a line later on where [my character says], “Oh for Pete’s sake, they’re just penises minding their own business.” You think, why are we so arrested by this? Why is it so remarkable? It’s because it’s new. We have not been confronted by this. It’s usually women that we’re accustomed to seeing. Maybe the audience will relax into it in the same way that Joyce does.
We’ve seen you in so many different roles throughout your career, but now you’re headlining your own show. How excited were you when you landed the job?
First and foremost, it was incredibly exciting because I, myself, am a feminist and I love the seventies, and I love the aesthetic. I don’t want to sound too wanky, but sometimes as an actor, there are parts that you immediately have an affinity with. What they sound like, how they walk, you completely understand where they’re coming from. You’ve got this whole interior life that kind of occurs to you, immediately like a firework, it’s all there. And it’s so exciting when it happens because you think, I know how to tell this story. I know who she is. If I’d come across this role maybe 10 years ago, I probably wouldn’t have quite been ready for it. You just don’t know. It just came along at the right time.
I’ve been an actress since I was a kid, working since I was 12 years old. It felt like I was ready for it. I was ready to roll up my sleeves and get stuck into it. As you said, my prior roles have been more supporting characters, so it was just satisfying to get your teeth around something really meaty. Yes, it’s a comedy and it’s really fun and it’s silly and pokes fun at people being pompous, but it does also have very personal points to be made in it. So it was satisfying marrying the comedy with the kind of palatable feminism. I enjoyed that challenge.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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