In 2001, Antonio Banderas and Angelina Jolie starred in the erotic thriller Original Scene. Based on the novel Waltz into Darkness by Cornell Woolrich, the movie follows a woman who, along with her lover, makes plans to con a rich man into marrying her to steal all his money.
Despite the fact that Banderas and Jolie are great actors who had had many box office box hits in the past, Original Sin was a huge flop. The movie grossed $35.4 million worldwide against a $42 million budget, and the film received harsh reviews from critics. In fact, Jolie was even nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress for her work in this movie.
As it turns out, filming Original Sin was a total nightmare for Antonio Banderas. The Puss in Boots voice actor revealed that filming the movie was a hardship because he wasn’t allowed to touch Angelina Jolie during intimate scenes.
The Director Of Original Sin Wasn’t Happy About The Lack Of Intimacy In The Movie
Michael Cristofer wrote and directed the 2001 erotic thriller Original Sin. But what he had in mind for this movie was so very different from what audiences got to see in the movie theater. One of the biggest challenges he faced was censoring, as the Motion Picture Assn. of America insisted that he had to cut the scenes in order to achieve an R rating.
“I know they don’t like to be called censors, but they are. This film is about sexual obsession, and I had to cut, for my money, just too much of the sex.”
Cristofer had previously worked with Angelina Jolie in the 1998 HBO movie Gia, which catapulted the actress to international stardom. When he was approached by MGM to make a film adaptation of the novel Waltz into Darkness, he knew Jolie would be perfect for the leading female role. On the other hand, Antonio Banderas had tried buying the rights to Waltz Into Darkness to direct it himself. When Cristofer heard of this, he invited the actor to join the project.
After casting Banderas, Cristofer decided to set the story in Cuba instead of its original New Orleans location. The movie follows Cuban businessman Luis Vargas (Banderas) and his mail-order bride, Julia Russell (Jolie), as they fall in love. That is until Julia disappears with all his money. The director claims that at its core, Original Sin is a love story “about facing the dark side of yourself as well as the light side, and understanding that human beings are made of both things.”
Antonio Banderas Revealed That Working With Angelina Jolie In Original Sin Was Like Falling Off A Horse
Antonio Banders and Angelina Jolie were meant to play passionate lovers in Original Sin. Both actors had filmed many love scenes in the past. But, at least to Banderas, the sex scenes in this movie were the most difficult he’s ever done. Mainly because he wasn’t allowed to touch Jolie while filming.
In 2007, Banderas told Daily Mail that their love scene wasn’t as intense as it appears on the screen. “Doing a sex scene with Angelina Jolie was the same as doing a scene where I have to fall off a horse,” he explained. “You have to make it look real, but it just isn’t. We had to do a very intense sex scene in Original Sin, but, of course, it’s nothing like the way it looks on screen.”
Then, he explained that he couldn’t really touch Jolie during their scene together, so he had to get very creative to convey all the passion his character was supposed to be feeling. “I couldn’t touch her, because she had tattoos everywhere, and they had to be covered with make-up, so I had to try not to dislodge it,” Banderas revealed.
Angelina Jolie Wasn’t Happy About The Rumors That Sprouted After She Starred Alongside Antonio Banderas
Angelina Jolie was married to Billy Bob Thornton at the time she filmed Original Sin. After the movie was released, it was rumored that Jolie was romantically involved with her co-star Antonio Banderas, who was married to Melanie Griffith. Jolie wasn’t happy with these rumors and quickly shot them down.
“You’re talking about a man who is deeply in love with his wife, and married, he has beautiful children with her, and they’re such a great family,” Jolie said in an interview with ABC News. “And I’m madly in love with my husband, we have such a great relationship, and the idea that either one of us would, would want anything more than our marriages is really insulting and angering.”
As for Banderas’ wife, she was never worried by these rumors. In fact, Griffith would frequently stop by the Original Sin set. Moreover, she was the one that encouraged Banderas to do this movie in the first place. “She was the one that read it and insisted he do the film because she thought it was such a great character and a great story for him,” Jolie recalled. “So she was actually the one who’s more rooting for it than anybody.”
