Kate Winslet Says One Small Detail Changed Her Intimate Scene With Idris Elba

Kate Winslet has never been shy about discussing what happens behind the camera, including the more awkward parts of filming an intimate scene. One of her funniest stories involved Idris Elba and the romance they shared on screen in The Mountain Between Us.

The pair starred together in the 2017 survival drama, which placed their characters in a dangerous and isolated setting before the relationship between them became romantic.

Years later, it was not the nudity or physical closeness that stood out most from Winslet's account. Instead, the conversation became centered on a small item of clothing that Elba wanted her to keep on while they filmed.

The British actors led the movie under director Hany Abu-Assad, with Dermot Mulroney and Beau Bridges also appearing in the cast. Winslet and Elba later joined Graham Norton to promote the film and talk about how they handled its intimate scenes.

During their appearance on The Graham Norton Show, the Titanic star explained that Elba had one concern before they started shooting. It was not about how much would be shown, how the scene would be framed, or which actor would take the lead.

Actors now speak more openly about filming nudity, romance, and simulated sex, but Winslet's story stood out because the request sounded so oddly specific. The way she told it also left Elba sitting beside her with little chance of escaping the joke.

Winslet said she took control of the scene because she had more experience filming intimate material than both Elba and Abu-Assad. Rather than waiting for the director to decide every movement, she helped work out how the scene should be performed for the camera.

That did not mean the moment was completely relaxed. Intimate scenes involve careful positioning, camera angles, modesty, and trust between the performers, even when the final footage is meant to look spontaneous.

While explaining how she guided the sequence, the 50-year-old actress revealed that Elba had strong feelings about one particular part of the body. His request then became the part of the interview that everyone remembered.

Kate Winslet and Idris Elba starred in The Mountain Between Us. Credit: Samir Hussein/WireImage

What taking charge of an intimate scene can involve

When an actor says they helped direct or guide an intimate scene, that does not mean the performers simply made things up once the cameras started. The scene still needs planned movements so both actors understand where they will be touched, what the camera will capture, and how much of their bodies will be visible.

Modern productions may use an intimacy coordinator to help with that process. The SAG-AFTRA standards say coordinators can help actors and directors discuss consent, choreography, modesty garments, physical barriers, and closed-set rules before filming begins.

Clear planning can make a major difference when a performer is young or unsure what the scene will involve. Will Poulter, for example, has said he would have appreciated an intimacy coordinator while filming an awkward kissing scene with Jennifer Aniston and Emma Roberts when he was 19.

The unexpected request Idris Elba made

Winslet said the unusual detail came up while she was helping organize the intimate scene. Before they continued, Elba asked her to 'keep your socks on,' which left her wondering why that one item needed to stay in place.

She recalled her immediate reaction: "I'm like, keep my socks on? Everything else is off. What's with the socks?"

Winslet then revealed the explanation Elba had given her: "He was like, 'I got a foot thing.'"

Elba was sitting beside Winslet during the interview, so he had the chance to deny the story or explain that she had misunderstood him.

Instead, he confirmed that the exchange had happened. The actor did not offer a detailed defense or try to make the request sound more serious than it was.

Speaking to Norton, Elba admitted: "I got a thing, you know. Just a thing."

Kate Winslet turned the confession into a joke

Winslet did not appear offended or uncomfortable about the request. She laughed about it and suggested Elba may not have been impressed if he had taken a closer look at her feet, which she compared to the large feet of a Hobbit.

"I've got very, very big feet and they're not particularly beautiful feet, either," she admitted.

Elba refused to let her put herself down and quickly replied: "They're all right, they're all right."

Some people listening to the exchange first thought Elba wanted the socks left on because he disliked feet. Winslet quickly corrected that interpretation and made sure the audience understood that the truth was the exact reverse.

"It's the opposite, ladies and gentlemen," she said. Winslet then made the point even clearer: "Idris loves feet."

Once the joke was out in the open, she encouraged the studio audience to get involved, calling out: "Everyone take your shoes off!"

The audience did not accept Winslet's invitation, which was unfortunate for Elba but probably a relief for everyone else in the studio.

The exchange remained playful throughout. Elba appeared willing to let Winslet tell the story at his expense, while she turned what could have been an uncomfortable filming detail into a joke between the two co-stars.

It also showed why the interview clip continued to circulate after the movie's release. A routine question about filming romance had produced a confession that neither Norton nor the audience seemed to expect.

Elba asked Winslet to leave her socks on, as he was too big a fan of feet. Credit: 20th Century Fox

Other actors have described much more awkward scenes

Winslet and Elba were able to laugh about their experience, but other actors have described arriving on set without fully understanding how exposed an intimate scene would leave them. Aubrey Plaza shared one such story from the 2013 comedy The To-Do List.

Plaza plays Brandy, a recent high school graduate who creates a list of sexual experiences she wants to complete before college. One scene required the character to pleasure herself while alone.

During an interview with Conan O'Brien, Plaza said she had seen the direction in the script but had imagined a far less revealing way of filming it. What she found when she arrived on set was much different from the shot she had pictured.

The script reportedly said "Brandy masturbates," Plaza explained that she assumed the camera would suggest what was happening without showing her whole body: "In my head I envisioned a nice scene where you just see my hand slowly go out of frame."

That expectation changed when she saw the setup and realized the crew planned to capture far more of the scene. She explained: "That's what I thought I was going into, but then when I showed up, the camera was mounted on the ceiling, I was in my underwear and a Clinton T-shirt, and there were a bunch of old men smoking, ya know, the crew guys."

"And then I went and touched myself. I thought I was doing one thing and when I showed up it was a whole different thing, it was a full body shot."

Plaza admitted that she asked the director for guidance once she understood how the scene would be filmed. She recalled: "I thought I was doing one thing and when I showed up it was a whole different thing, it was a full body shot and I asked the director 'what should I do' and she said 'masturbate like it says in the script'."

Robert Pattinson has also spoken about performing an explicit moment for a movie. Before playing Batman, he portrayed artist Salvador Dalí in the 2008 biographical drama Little Ashes.

While discussing the role with Germany's Interview Magazine, Pattinson said the scene went beyond pretending for the camera. He explained: "I played Salvador Dali and had to do a lot of scenes where I was naked, and I also had to masturbate. I mean really."

Looking back at the finished movie, Pattinson joked about the fact that viewers would always be able to see his real reaction. He said: "My orgasm face is recorded for eternity."

Unlike Winslet and Elba's playful disagreement over a pair of socks, Pattinson and Plaza described scenes where the reality of filming became far more exposed than they had first expected.

Their accounts also explain why clear discussions before filming matter. A scene may last only seconds in the finished movie, but the performer still has to understand exactly what will happen once the set closes and the camera begins recording.