It’s one of the most memorable moments in a film full of memorable moments: when Romy, played by Nicole Kidman, drinks down an entire glass of milk sent to her by her much younger lover, Samuel (Harris Dickinson), in the critically acclaimed somewhatcontroversialnew film,Babygirl.
It happens in a crowded bar, where interaction between the two is impossible, but the bold and commanding Samuel knows just how to send Romy a message and push her buttons. The scene ends with Samuel passing by Romy on his way out and whispering “good girl” as he goes, which flusters Romy even further. According to writer-director Halina Reijn, this happened to her in real life.
Speaking withIndiewire, Reijn explained the real-life exchange that inspired the now famous milk scene inBabygirl:
“The milk is, of course, an archetype. We’ve seen it in other movies. It is a great symbol of animalistic sides of ourselves. It happened to me… I was playing in Belgium onstage, and I got offstage, and I had a really good run, and I was like, ‘Oh my god!’ I felt really good about myself for one night in my life. All my colleagues were like, ‘No, we’re going to bed.’ They’re all boring. I was all alone. I went to a bar, and I ordered something boring like a Diet Coke because I didn’t drink at that time because I was a control freak. There was this young Belgian actor - I can’t say who it is - but he was famous. I knew of him. I’d never spoken to him. He was at least 15 years younger than I, and he ordered me a glass of milk. I thought it was an incredible, hot thing to do, and so courageous, and so I wanted to reward him by drinking the whole thing, and I did. It did make me a little nauseated, to be honest with you, because it was cow milk. It was back in the day.”
‘Babygirl’ Review: Nicole Kidman’s Two-Hour Erotic Thriller Titillates
A successful CEO’s (Nicole Kidman) steamy affair with an intern (Harris Dickinson) threatens her job and family in ‘Babygirl.’
Fantasy and Reality Were Almost Identical, Save for One Little Detail
The only difference between the real-life exchange and what we see on screen is that the unnamed Belgian actor didn’t call Reijn a “good girl” after she drank the milk. Which, according to the director, was a disappointment. “I wish he did,” she said. “He just walked out. I didn’t have sex with him or anything.”
And yet, the lack of physical contact remained, for Reijn, more erotic than if the two had engaged with each other sexually. This ended up being a creative boon while writing the script for Babygirl, which titillates more through suggestion than through more explicit sex scenes. Reijn states:
“…when I was writing, I did think that was one of the most arousing moments of my life. There wasn’t even touching. That is what fascinates me about sex. To me, real, shocking sex is often not at all two bodies banging into each other. To me, real, shocking sex is about what is in the mind. It’s all suggestion. It’s all imagination. [Romy] crawling around on a dirty carpet with stains and licking a little bit of candy out of his hand, and him petting her like she’s an animal - that, to me, is really sexy. Real sex acts to me onscreen are quite boring, which is why we only have two short moments of that.”
Despite seeing very little skin and very little sex, filming her erotic scenes did become a bit trying for Kidman, whohad to pause filmingat various points because she just didn’t want to be touched anymore. The actress credits Reijn for bringing her back by sitting and talking with her in between takes, calming her down and making her feel safe, something which Kidman feels would have been impossible had it been a man at the helm.
Babygirlis in theaters now from A24.
