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“Olivia thinks therefore, there’s been this movement now towards authenticity, which is really good. So I choose to interpret that statistic maybe as Gen Z saying, ‘We don’t want to see inauthenticity anymore. We want to see real relationships, and we want to have something that feels more genuine.’ So I like that.”
Olivia Wilde says Gen Z wants to see less sex in movies and TV because they “don’t want to see inauthenticity anymore.” According to a study from UCLA, nearly half of Gen Z (48.4%) believe there’s “too much sex and sexual content in TV and movies.”
Wilde continued, “This movie is an incredibly irreverent, playful take on showing this part of the sexual revolution of a young person. The whole idea is to try things, live your life, experiment, fall on your face and get back up. Sex is used as a metaphor for something that’s really applicable to everybody’s experience. You’re going to go through life, and you should just be very open to what it allows you to experience.”
“I Want Your Sex” co-star Mason Gooding agreed with Wilde during an interview at the Variety Studio presented by Audible, saying: “It’s about authenticity and seeing something authentic about how they see it on screen. The portrayal of [sex scenes] before was hot and heavy, as if it has to be this climax of passionate catharsis. Sex, more times than not in real life, has awkward relatability and tension.”
The film centers on a contemporary artist who corrupts her young assistant and becomes his sexual dom. Cast member Chase Sui Wonders added that she hopes “I Want Your Sex” gives “exposure therapy to Gen Z about sexual experience and inspires them to go out there.”
Gregg Araki noted, “I Want Your Sex” was the first movie he shot with an intimacy coordinator. The crew worked with Yehuda Duenyas, who previously served as intimacy coordinator on projects such as HBO’s “Westworld” and Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon.”
“My feeling is when actors have a really good structure for how to create these scenes, they can go so much further in their roles,” Duenyas told Variety at the film’s premiere. “We create a lot of comfort and boundaries around what we do, but within that structure, they can really just go for it. They don’t have to worry about the technical stuff that you have to worry about.”
Wilde added about the profession: “You can feel when everybody on set has felt really safe and really relaxed. We had an amazing intimacy coordinator. He’s the best in the business. There’s a way to do it where the whole thing can feel like a dance. And that playfulness should make everyone have fun. The evolution of people having more opportunities to feel safe and have fun on set is a good thing.”
#OliviaWilde says Gen Z wants to see less sex in movies and TV because they “don’t want to see inauthenticity anymore.”
— Variety (@Variety) January 24, 2026
“The way that sex has been portrayed in film for a long time hasn’t been particularly realistic,” Wilde tells Variety at #Sundance.
Nearly half of Gen Z… pic.twitter.com/WMLbGTzjUR
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