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“The Slip ‘N’ Slide was incredible!” exclaims Sam Heughan as he, Jessica De Gouw, Alfred Enoch and Eleanor Tomlinson open up about the close vibe on and off set … and whether that helps when it comes to filming some of the show’s spicier scenes.
It certainly isn’t normal for an actor like Alfred Enoch to spend his downtime winning a costume contest by sporting a bikini top and leather leggings … but that’s how things rolled while filming the new Starz thriller The Couple Next Door for the show’s cast and crew in Belgium.
The series stars Enoch, Outlander’s Sam Heughan, Jessica De Gouw and Eleanor Tomlinson as two pairs who wind up living next to each other. As the four start to form a friendship, they also “become sexually entangled in a way that will change their lives forever.” It kicks off tonight, Friday, January 17, on Starz.
While speaking with TooFab, we just had to ask for the backstory behind the Instagram post below — shared by series director Dries Vos — after they wrapped the show. The pic shows the group rocking some wild looks — including the aforementioned bikini top and leggings, as well as shredded shirts and garter belts — while together in a field.
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“I don’t think that was even a wrap party. That was just a casual Wednesday night,” exclaimed De Gouw.
“The Belgian crew are naughty and they would, every department would host a party mid-week and we are not used to that,” she explained of the shoot. “Normally, you’re very, very sensible on set, especially mid-week. But we had a huge fun fair in the middle of a field, Slip ‘N Slide. It was outrageous and a delight. The crew are so gorgeous and just a delight, I miss them so much. They’ve just got such a twinkle in the eye.”
“That’s why I turned my video off,” quipped Enoch when asked about his look during a Zoom interview.
“That picture just brings back such happiness,” added Tomlinson. “We had some wild parties on set, it was great, and that particular party, I don’t even know what the theme was. I know there was a water slide and I know that Alfred won the costume competition.”
“It was a lot of hard work,” said Enoch, “but, you know, congrats to everyone else for the hard work they put in on their costumes as well.”
While Heughan says it’s not uncommon to “bond” with costars while on a shoot, he said it’s “rare to have ones so close as this.” That, he credits to the environment led by director Dries Vos.
“That really comes down to the fact that I have these gorgeous people as cast members and crew … we were integrated with them. They work in a different way out there and there was almost this expectation that we social in some way, at lunchtime, the morning, whatever,” he explained. “It broke down a lot of barriers and made everyone feel a lot closer, a lot quicker. Which is great, the parties were phenomenal.”
“There’s so much that cannot be shared,” he teased, before also admitting, “The Slip ‘N Slide was incredible!”
“Dries had been working with the same crew for something like three consecutive years so everyone knew each other,” added Enoch. “There was this nice thing where they had this familiarity, [the actors] immediately got on and had that good chemistry between us and then they were very open and welcoming with us that we became this sort of traveling circus family on the road, shooting and having parties.”
Having those close bonds also helped the cast when it came time to film some of the show’s sexier scenes, which were also choreographed with the help of an intimacy coordinator.
“It makes it so much easier. If you really get on with your costars, it’s great,” Tomlinson explained. “Obviously, with the intimacy coordinators there, it’s great, there’s that level of trust. There’s that freedom to speak plainly and to work out mathematically — it’s like a dance routine — what’s gonna happen.”
“If you’re doing this with friends of yours, it takes the pressure off and you feel very safe and very held,” she added.
“Totally, totally that,” Enoch told told TooFab. “It makes everything richer. The experience together during the endeavor, but also the work that you’re doing because there’s a level of understanding and that kind of excitement that you’re getting to work together, there’s good communication, there’s so much that enriches what ends up going on the screen.”
With Enoch getting his start in the Harry Potter movies, we also quickly asked him whether he had any advice for the young stars who will ultimately be cast in HBO’s new TV show inspired by the same books.
Though he noted the show would likely be a “different” take on the source material, he said, “The best advice I’ve ever been given is to enjoy it, whatever it is, enjoy it. That’s a good reason to do anything. I hope they are having a good time.”
Check out the video above to see what De Gouw had to say about learning how to drive stick on set, whether there are any celebs they wouldn’t want to live next door to and their thoughts on Season 2!
The Couple Next Door premieres tonight on Starz.
