Emily Mortimer has shared her reaction to seeing her son Sam Nivola in a sex scene with his onscreen brother Patrick Schwarzenegger on The White Lotus.
The Paddington in Peru actor, 53, is mother of Nivola who plays wealthy guest Lochlan Ratliff on the hit HBO series. Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger plays Saxon Ratliff, his brother. The pair are involved in a controversial sex scene in which they share a threesome with Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) while drunk and high on drugs.
Later in the show, it is revealed that Lochlan “jerked off” Saxon in a further development of the incestuous storyline.
“It’s so crazy, all of it,” she told The Times. “It wasn’t particularly crazier than having my boy go off to Thailand for so long. Of course, it was a bit bizarre, but being married to an actor [Alessandro Nivola], we’ve all had to watch each other do strange things. And I had been warned — although Sam said that the worst bit was the first ten minutes, but they kept flashing back. So I’d relaxed and then it wasn’t true at all.”
Reflecting on the moment when Nivola was offered the role, she said: “The sweetest part is that Sam has a film production company with his best friend called Cold Worm Productions, after a silly thing from when he was a kid and we used to pretend to be cold worms, and the first thing he said when he put the phone down was, ‘This is going to be huge for Cold Worm.’”
Despite the scenes, Mortimer says her son has navigated fame well. “He just sort of owns it, which isn’t thanks to either of us,” she said. “I’m biased because I’m his mum, but he doesn’t need any guidance.”
Le Bon shared Schwarzenegger’s reaction to the kiss earlier this year. Speaking to Vulture, the actor said of filming the scene: “Well obviously they’re not brothers by blood, so that made it easier.”
She reflected: “I think for Patrick it was really difficult. For Sam, he was kind of like, ‘It’s whatever, let’s just do it well one time and it will be over.’
“You know? Because if you don’t do it well the first time, then you have to do it over and over again.”
Le Bon continued, “But Patrick’s reaction in the episode is his genuine reaction. We all thought he was going to throw up. And Sam was like, ‘It’s fine, it’s just a kiss, calm down!’”
