Donald Sutherland banged Julie Christie for real in Don’t Look Now

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

It’s a particularly slow news, so I’m going to toss this against the wall for you to enjoy. Hell, even if it wasn’t slow, this would still be an enjoyable item for you fans of cinema lore.

If you’ve ever seen Nicolas Roeg’s creepy horror drama DON’T LOOK NOW, you probably remember the epic sex scene that goes down (so to speak) between Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. It’s a passionate, splendid sequence – and it sure does look believable. The very authenticity of the scene has always begged the question: “did they or didn’t they”? According to Peter Bart, they did.

Bart, who has a biography coming out in the near future, was a Paramount executive when Roeg was filming DON’T LOOK NOW in Venice. Paying a visit to the set on that fateful day, Bart details the interesting experience he had while there; specifically that he was in the same room with two actors who were screwing on camera.

To quote the Hollywood Reporter article in which this info is revealed: “It was clear to me they were no longer simply acting: they were fucking on camera.”

According to Bart, he then had the following whispered exchange with Roeg:

Bart: Nic. Don’t they expect you to say “cut?”
Roeg: I just want to be sure I have the coverage.
Bart: His dick is moving in and out of her. That’s beyond coverage.

That’s amazing. Brings that scene to a whole new level, and it was already great. The next time you’re watching a Donald Sutherland movie (try not to make it the SALEM’S LOT remake), make sure to mutter a quiet “you go boy” when he shows up on screen, wearing that “I banged Julie Christie” grin of his…

The foxy Julie Christie