Ethan Alter

‘American Gods’: Bringing the ‘Geektastic’ Bilquis Scene to Life

Ethan Alter

Mon, May 1, 2017 at 4:00 PM UTC

Sex scenes can be notoriously awkward moments to film, and that’s doubly true when the scene in question involves an ancient goddess who views makin’ whoopee as an act of worship. That’s what viewers witnessed in the series premiere of American Gods, when Bilquis (Yetide Badake) brought home a man for a night he — and we — will never forget. Bilquis consuming him during sex is one of the most memorable moments in Neil Gaiman’s 2001 book that the series was based on, and Badake was eager to do it justice onscreen. “It’s definitely the most unique experience I’ve ever had,” the Nigerian-born actress tells Yahoo TV, adding that it took a lot of visual effects to replicate the wild bedroom encounter that Gaiman describes on the page. “There’s a lot of technological things to geek out about. It was a geektastic scene!”

And Badake definitely considers herself to be an American Gods geek. “[This scene] was something I really wanted to bring to the fans,” she says. That thought helped her through a rigorous, physically demanding shoot that took place over a “Fraturday” — TV-speak for a Friday evening into Saturday morning production schedule. All that effort paid off, though. Badake’s co-star, Emily Browning, says she led the applause after seeing the completed sequence when American Gods premiered at the South By Southwest festival earlier this year. “I think people didn’t know whether to clap. And I was like, ‘Yes!’ That scene is incredible.”

American Gods airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on Starz.

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