SPOILER ALERT: This story includes plot details for “Joy Ride,” now playing in theaters.
Director Adele Lim made sure there were intimacy coordinators on set for one of the raunchiest scenes in “Joy Ride” — when Stephanie Hsu‘s character Kat reveals a massive genital tattoo of a devil.
“Joy Ride,” the new raunchy R-rated comedy, stars Ashley Park as Audrey, a high-powered attorney who travels to China on business. Joining her on the trip are friends Lolo (Sherry Cola) and Deadeye (Sabrina Wu). Hsu plays Audrey’s college friend, Kat, who is now a Chinese soap opera star. The four find themselves in various wild scenarios that include drugs, sex and basketball star Baron Davis.
Early in the film, Lolo learns from Ashley that Kat has a tattoo and becomes fascinated by it. In an awkward moment, while the four are trying to get out of a situation, the tattoo — which has been a taboo topic for Kat — is accidentally revealed.
Lim spoke with Variety about the genesis of the tattoo design, why it was important to have intimacy coordinators on set, using a body double and whether she would get a NSFW tattoo.
Who came up with this idea of a vagina tattoo?
It was baked in from day one. It was collaborative. I remember talking about what this character of Kat could have that is so shameful and awful. Is it a video from her past? I remember mentioning the pussy tattoo as one of those things and fellow screenwriters Teresa Hsiao and Cherry Chevapravatdumrong jumped on it.
I’ve been in a lot of writer rooms. Years ago, we were shooting the shit, killing time and someone brought the topic up. I thought it couldn’t possibly be a thing. Do yourselves a favor and do not go down that rabbit hole of Google because you can never unsee those images. There are a lot and they’re legitimately scary and crazy. There are two that are wildly popular and they stood out. One was of Homer Simpson’s mouth and the other of a fish. Anyway, the topic came up when we were writing the script and we jumped on it and it was off to the races from there.
How did you get the design right?
It took a long time to get right because there are practical day-to-day logistics. It’s not the simplest thing, putting a tattoo of a devil on a vagina. We had to find a body double. You can’t lay the design on a flat piece of paper. You have to lay it on the skin to see how it comes across. So, thank goodness for this wonderful body double who was game and had a spirit of trust and cooperation and was comfortable doing what was asked.
An early version of the tattoo had a devil with these ram-like horns, except once you placed that on the female anatomy, it looked like Mickey Mouse ears and that was bad messaging. So, there was a lot of tinkering just to get it right.
How did you tell Stephanie that her character Kat was going to have this tattoo?
I am so amazed and blown away by Stephanie Hsu. She’s so trusting and game because it is a vulnerable thing to do, even having a body double deciphering your character. But she knew about it from day one because it was in the script. I’m forever grateful that she didn’t burn the script and run off. It’s one thing to know abstractly that you’re going to do that. The moment you get into the nitty-gritty of the storyboard and what we’re going to show, the truth of the matter is you have these wonderful and talented actors with not a lot of clothes on in this vulnerable situation.
Stephanie was consulted from the very beginning. She was consulted on who the body double was. There was an intimacy coordinator so she had someone to talk to and advocate for her. We also had her in post-production watching every iteration of the scene to make sure she was comfortable with it.
How do you find a body double for a scene like that?
We’ve seen a lot of male frontal nudity in movies. It’s a double standard because audiences are less shocked by that. But I wanted to show that women and nudity can be shown for comedic purposes. We found this wonderful and confident exotic dancer. Stephanie also signed off on her. I’ve had a lot of experience on sets where things can get uncomfortable for a woman, particularly when she’s surrounded by extras. So, we wanted to make sure that she and the body double had as safe an environment as possible.
That tattoo was a decal. How long did it take to apply?
It was. You have to make sure it’s applied right. If you’ve ever had those fake tattoos that you put on your hand, and if you move it, it doesn’t look right and wrinkles. So, all credit goes to our makeup team and art department for coming up with the design and the decal.
We were shooting in the airplane hangar. My assistant director taps me on the shoulder and says I need to check it out. So, they had built a privacy tent, and you have to get up close and personal with it. You can’t just see it from afar and say, “That looks good.” It was a good practice run for her and me because she was going to have a camera not too far away from her business and I’m staring at someone’s privates with this devil tattoo inches away from my face.
What about shooting that point-of-view scene where audiences see from the inside of Kat’s private parts?
The POV shot was hilarious. It was important to storyboard all of these shots, so the actors and crew knew what we were doing. This was not the sequence where you could make changes on the fly. But I remember being in my apartment in Vancouver. We didn’t have storyboard artists that day. So, I had those 3×5 cards and my Sharpie pen. I took art in high school and thought I could do this storyboard. I had to board every single frame of the reveal of the skirt falling and the close-up of the vag tattoo, but there was the vagina point-of-view when you’re looking out from inside onto the faces of our characters. I remember drawing it in the middle of the night. Meanwhile, I’m Zooming with my children in L.A. and they were asking what I was doing, and it’s one of those things that you can’t explain.
Anyway, I ran Stephanie Hsu through my terrible scrawl and those cards and she said, “You know what I’m going to want that” and that was my wrap gift to her.
I was going to ask you, if you’d get a tattoo on your lower back. What would it be of?
No, because that would date me. It feels like it’s a ‘90s thing.
Since it’s “Joy Ride,” if you did get a tattoo down there, what would you get?
I don’t think I’ve considered that before. It’s where my mind went to. Immediately. It’s weird where my mind went to. I’d get a Tapir. They’re cute little animals that are like an anteater. It’s almost like an Oreo cookie, half black and white. But it’s specific to Malaysia where I’m from and I’m going to completely horrify all Malaysians. It’s easy to pull off and adorable.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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