'Sex Education' Director Explains How S4's T4T Sex Scene Came About

Sex Education recently came to a close with its fourth and final season, and now one of the directors is opening up about the particular importance of one of this season’s sex scenes.

The popular series saw a number of the characters shift to Cavendish College after Moordale was shut down at the end of last season. There, we meet Abbi (Anthony Lexa) and Roman (Felix Mufti), the “it couple” at school who just happen to both be trans.

Obviously Sex Education hasn’t shied away from sex scenes in the past, and Abbi and Roman had their own moment to shine in episode eight. It was a big deal, and something the creative team wanted to make sure they got right, as sex scenes with trans characters—particularly a couple where both people are trans—are still so rare in film and TV.

Alyssa McClelland directed the final three episodes of the series, including episode eight, and recently told The Hollywood Reporter how the scene between Abbi and Roman came about.

“I was chatting a lot with Ant and Felix, who play Abbi and Roman, and it was all about how we’ve never seen a really raw, intimate sex scene onscreen before,” she said.

The scene wasn’t in the script at that point, so McClelland spoke with creator Laurie Nunn about coming up with something that would serve the journey the characters were on with their intimacy issues while also keeping in line with the show’s reputation for “bold, provocative moments.”

“It’s like, ‘Let’s create a discussion around it. Let’s be honest and authentic and real about this and show it in a really authentic, powerful way,’” McClelland said, noting that Nunn was “immediately on board” with the idea.

“Then, it was just about working very closely with Ant and Felix, who are just so open anyway. It was more about the choreography and making sure: ‘This has to be bold. It was to be raw. It has to be intimated. We can’t be sort of shying away with it. I can’t be shooting it through a bunch of plants.’ I wanted to really embrace it for the truth that it possessed,” she added.

The final season of Sex Education dropped last week and has already been receiving rave reviews from critics and fans alike, although it will be missed. You can catch the entire series on Netflix now.