Colman Says ‘Wicker’ Intimacy Scenes Felt Less Awkward

WHO:

Yahoo - Olivia Colman said her character has “self-esteem issues” because she is ostracized, though she is “still happy on her own and is probably more comfortable on her own.”

Yahoo - Elizabeth Debicki’s character was known as “Doctor’s Daughter” as a child and “Tailor’s Wife” after marriage.

Yahoo - “Wicker” stars Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård; the film is directed by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson and is based on a short story by Ursula Wills.

Yahoo - Peter Dinklage plays a queer basket weaver; Elizabeth Debicki plays the town’s queen bee.

Variety - Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård and Elizabeth Debicki discussed making “Wicker.”

Variety - Debicki said the first thing she saw on set was Skarsgård wading through water in a full-frontal wicker costume; she recalled, “Hi, Alex!” and said she “went bright red.”

WHAT:

Yahoo - Colman said the Fisherwoman is the only woman in town with a job and a name not associated with a man.

Yahoo - Colman said she and Alexander Skarsgård discussed the film’s traditional male-female power dynamics explicitly on set.

Yahoo - Colman said the Fisherwoman and her wicker husband are “absolutely in the moment” during their dance and “don’t consider that anyone could be looking at them.”

Yahoo - Skarsgård said the film addresses toxic masculinity and that its social commentary is presented without feeling like a 1-hour-and-40-minute lecture.

Yahoo - “Wicker” is a steamy comedy about an ostracized medieval fisherwoman who asks the local basket weaver to make her a husband out of wicker, partly to spite the town’s “pretty mean girls.”

Yahoo - Colman said Skarsgård’s full-body wicker suit made simulated sex scenes “less embarrassing” because “there wasn’t skin touching.” The sex scenes contain no nudity; Colman said the filmmakers chose to leave it “all in our imaginations.”

Yahoo - The film’s most sensual scene is a dance at a public gathering in which the couple sway and caress while townspeople watch with horror and confusion.

Yahoo - Colman said the Fisherwoman and her wicker husband fall in love naturally, though she did not intend to sleep with the husband.

Yahoo - Skarsgård said the film’s protagonist is a woman “who wasn't 23” and that the story shows it “can still be steamy and sexy and fun and exciting.”

Variety - The article describes “Wicker” as “very silly” and “really heartbreaking,” and says it is “not just a slapstick or sex comedy.”

Yahoo - Skarsgård contrasted his “Wicker” character, who seeks connection, with his “Murderbot” character, who is “terrified of human connection” and “flees from it.”

WHERE:

Yahoo - Colman and Skarsgård were interviewed on the rooftop of “Wicker” distributor Black Bear’s Santa Monica office.

WHY:

Yahoo - Colman said the Fisherwoman’s independence includes earning her own money, having her own space and choosing how to spend her evenings.

Yahoo - Skarsgård said the film explores marriage, patriarchy, jealousy and social hierarchy, including how someone who disrupts a hierarchy can become a threat.

HOW:

Yahoo - The filmmakers used an intimacy coordinator to demonstrate what needed to happen in a sex scene; the script also called for a bed to break with a thunderous clatter.

Yahoo - Costume designers András Dániel Tóth and Attila Godena-Juhász created metal collars for female characters’ wedding costumes, decorated with detailed renderings of fallopian tubes and breasts.

Yahoo - Colman said the production’s choice to avoid nudity kept the sex scenes focused on the audience’s imagination.

Yahoo - Skarsgård said the story uses comedy to subvert traditional fables, sagas and George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion.”

(UPDATED October 26, 2026 22:07 UTC)

Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård star in “Wicker,” a steamy comedy about an ostracized medieval fisherwoman who asks a basket weaver to make her a husband from wicker, only to fall for him. Colman says the independent Fisherwoman is the only woman in town with a job and a name of her own, while Skarsgård says the film uses humor to explore toxic masculinity, marriage and social hierarchy without turning into a lecture. The filmmakers kept the sex scenes free of nudity, leaving much to the imagination, and Elizabeth Debicki recalled blushing when she first saw Skarsgård wading through water in his full-body wicker costume.

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(UPDATED October 26, 2026 17:08 UTC)

Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård star in “Wicker,” a steamy, offbeat comedy about an ostracized medieval fisherwoman who asks a local basket weaver to make her a husband from wicker. Skarsgård plays the wicker husband, while Peter Dinklage is the queer basket weaver and Elizabeth Debicki is the town’s queen bee; the film explores love, independence and social hierarchy through comedy and fable-like storytelling. Colman said the simulated sex scenes involved no nudity and relied on the audience’s imagination, while Debicki recalled turning bright red when she first saw Skarsgård wading through water in his full-body wicker costume.