Sex scenes are undoubtedly an awkward and nerve-wracking aspect of being an actor. Allowing your body and soul to be exposed to the entire crew, and eventually the world, in highly choreographed scenes stimulating love making is quite the task. Of course, things only get more complicated when half of the actors in the scene are one of the biggest international pop stars in history. That’s exactly what happened with Angela Bassett, as well a handful of other co-stars, who had to film a love scene with none other than Lady Gaga in American Horror Story: Hotel.
On a recent appearance on TBS’ Conan, host Conan O’Brien asked Angela Bassett how she told her husband, actor Courtney B. Vance, about her sex scene with Gaga. It turns out, she didn’t tell him at all.
I just waited until the night of, and said ‘Come on, I want you to see something.’ And so I’m showing it and I have the remote and he’s like ‘Woah! What’s about to happen?’ And I just eased him into it.
Well that’s a bold move. But since Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance are both actors, I guess it comes with the territory.
In American Horror Story: Hotel, Angela Bassett played former actress and current vampire Ramona Royale. We meet her toward the middle of the season, and quickly find out that she was once the lead actress in a handful of 1970’s blaxploitation films. While trying to become a mainstream film star, she meets Lady Gaga’s character The Countess, and the two quickly become romantically involved. The Countess turns her into a vampire and they have a relationship which lasts decades full of love and lust, but found that they began fizzling out as time went on.
While it’s certainly a bold choice that Angela Bassett decided to keep her sex scene with Lady Gaga as a surprise for her husband, I can’t help but wonder how the conversation happened between Gaga and her fiance, Chicago Fire actor Taylor Kinney. Aside from Bassett, Gaga also had salacious sex scenes with Matt Bomer, Finn Wittrock, Cheyenne Jackson, and a few other nameless characters. That’s a lot of sex scenes considering American Horror Story: Hotel was only twelve episodes long.
Check out Angela Bassett’s hilarious interview where she discusses the issue with Conan O’Brien.
It appears; however, that Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance have a relationship full of trust and art. Since Vance is currently starring (to much acclaim) in American Crime Story: The People V. O.J. Simpson, they’re both FX superstars and will presumably have many more love scenes in the future.
