Culture

Soap Opera Actors Are Being Forced To Kiss Mannequins And It’s Extremely Funny

The acting is a bit lifeless.

by Rebecca Shaw  6 September 2020
Mannequins

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Someone filmed a scene from ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’ that shows an actor kissing a mannequin, and it’s accidentally very funny. 

The television industry ground to a halt this year due to COVID-19 and the associated restrictions. Some shows have been slowly getting back into it, with writers rooms held via zoom or other safe channels. If filming, strict safety measures are in place, including restrictions on the amount of people on set, distancing, and aggressive testing.

Clever writing will also feature, as shows figure out ways to write scenes that match up with the necessary precautions, and leaning heavily on innuendo. Some shows, like ‘The L Word: Generation Q’ have even hired real-life partners of cast members.

But the no-contact is especially hard for TV shows that rely on intimacy between characters, and shows that often feature a lot of smooching and other horny horny behaviour.

This is especially difficult for soap operas like ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’ who rely heavily on interpersonal relationships between partners, and long-lost cousins with amnesia who are secretly princes or whatever. Their trick has been to bring in….mannequins.

An executive producer on the show told the NY Times, “One of the first ideas we had was to bring in mannequins for the intimate scenes and hospital scenes, and it’s working quite well — we’re shooting it from a great distance or in a way you can’t see the form is inanimate.”

But one of these mannequin-kissing scenes has hit the Internet after being filmed, and I’m not sure everyone would agree you can’t tell that the actor is smooching a mannequin. But you should decide for yourself.

Personally I think it is very funny, but it’s also a solid idea, and a creative way to try and get around a very difficult situation. And you have to respect the actors giving it their best.

Let’s give the last word to Issa Rae, speaking on the upcoming season of ‘Insecure.’