Orlando Bloom is opening up about filming an intimate scene with real-life sisters Rooney and Kate Mara in his new movie, Bucking Fastard.
While promoting the film at the San Sebastián Film Festival, Bloom, 49, discussed the scene and the emotional dynamic between its three characters.
“There was such simplicity to the characters and [their] carnal desires, but also an innocence to the sisters,” Bloom said, according to Variety.
The actor explained that his character finds himself unprepared for the situation despite his outward appearance.
“My character, the Bucking Fastard, is sensitive too,” Bloom continued. “And he’s quite quickly out of his depth in some ways. It was a very sincere sort of moment that was created.”
Director Werner Herzog revealed that he gave Bloom, Rooney and Kate room to shape the scene themselves. Rather than choreographing every interaction, the filmmaker stepped back and allowed the actors to determine how the moment should unfold.
“There are moments when a director has to step back,” Herzog said. “In the love scene, I said to Orlando: ‘You are in bed, and you have two women in your arms. How you deal with it, I cannot give instructions.'”
Herzog described the finished scene as having both “charm and depth.”
Bucking Fastard follows sisters Jean and Joan Holbrooke, played by Kate and Rooney, respectively. The pair share an unusually close connection, speaking in unison, pursuing the same dreams and falling in love with the same man.
The movie premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 3 before heading to San Sebastián.
The project also marks the first time Kate, 43, and Rooney, 41, have appeared together in a movie. Kate recently said working alongside her sister felt “totally right” and described the opportunity as a dream.
She noted that the roles were particularly unusual because Jean and Joan function almost as a single character. For the sisters, finding equally substantial parts in a film by a director they both admired made the collaboration especially meaningful.
This story was originally published by Men’s Journal on Sep 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men’s Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.