Today's director for our Female Filmmakers series is really good at creating sensual art. In fact, she has directed one of the most notoriously sexy films in the past ten years. Let's look at the career of 50 Shades director, Sam Taylor-Johnson.
Sam Taylor-Johnson was born and raised in England where the British babe started her film interest by venturing into photography after attending the University of London. She ventured into video art and was given art gallery shows that were even nominated for art awards. She even did a series called Crying Men in which she photographed famous men, like David Beckham, crying.
She began her career in the early 2000s directing, of all things, Elton John musicals. Seriously! She directed two Elton John videos early in her career before she took a shot at her first feature film, Nowhere Boy in 2009. It was a biopic about John Lennon and it starred Aaron Taylor-Johnson whom she started dating and would later marry. The couple has been together ever since!
Since this was her first major movie, she was nervous. She has notoriously said that,"I thought, I'm in too deep and if I mess this up I'm just never gonna make a film again, and I went into a panic. I got into the car and said, I just have to call these producers and pull out. I got into the car and I put the key into the ignition and Lennon's voice came straight out of the radio and it was Starting Over. It was one of those moments where I thought it was a sign: OK I'm gonna do it."
We are glad that she did! It proved that she could handle a feature film which was all she needed to take on one of the sexiest films ever made: Fifty Shades of Grey.
Fifty Shades of Grey is by far Sam Taylor-Johnson's most successful and sexual film. She directed Dakota Johnson in several precarious scenes playing Anastasia Steele becoming the BDSM lover of billionaire Christian Grey. He spoils her with luxury and pleasure that exceeds her wildest dreams.
There are so many hot scenes in 50 Shades - there is a reason why even the book was wildly popular. From getting whipped to blind-folded to tied up, torture meets sex in this BDSM-filled relationship that introduces Anastasia Steele to a world that will become her own. These scenes featuring a very nude Dakota Johnson will turn your johnson to steel!
Here's some fun trivia: Dakota Johnson allegedly took home the flogger and underwear that she wore on set. She said the underwear was simply too comfortable for her to leave it behind. What's Dakota doing with that sex toy? One has to wonder!
In total this film has over fourteen minutes of sex scenes. You can watch one that contributes to that run-time here:
She loves to direct her husband (and make her husband go nude - hey, she's in charge!), but she has also directed episodes of the 2017 series Gypsy starring Naomi Watts topless in a hot sex scene. Most recently she directed episodes of Hunters which also showcased her nudity prowess. She really knows how to direct sexiness on camera!
She has an upcoming biopic art movie - which feels like a perfect marriage of her interests and background - called Rothko. It will star her husband alongside Aisling Franciosi as the daughter of the famous painter (Rothko, in case you didn't put that together) as she goes to court to battle for her father's paintings. We'll see what sensuality Taylor-Johnson infuses into that!
