Jennifer Aniston and Jon Hamm’s characters shared an intimate — but tasteful — moment on The Morning Show.
During the Wednesday, October 11, episode of the Apple TV+ hit, an interview between Alex (Aniston) and Paul (Hamm) erupted into a fit of passion, resulting in the beginning of a new relationship. Rather than shoot a “rip-your-clothes-off sex scene,” director and executive producer Mimi Leder wanted to showcase “a mutual genuine affection” between the two.
“It was looking into each other’s eyes, finding the tender center of the scene,” Leder, 71, shared in an interview with Variety published on Wednesday. “That first, deep emotional connection. Two people caught up in just caught up in each other, taken away by the moment.”
The scene was filmed on a closed set. Leder explained that Aniston and Hamm “really understood the nature of the storytelling and were very much a part of it,” adding, “We wanted it to be sensitive. We wanted it to be sexy. We wanted it to be adult. We wanted it to be emotional. They really let go. They’re great actors. And there you have it.”
Some fans may have been surprised by the quick romantic turn of the duo’s relationship, especially since Paul is attempting to buy The Morning Show’s network. However, Leder noted that the seeds of their romance were planted at the very beginning of season 3.
“From the first moment she sees him in Episode 1, when she says, ‘He’s tall,’” Leder told the outlet. “There’s this inner attraction that she just buries because she’s focused on her work, and it gets sidelined by the deal. And in Episode 4, in wrangling him back to UBA, I think there’s some seeds there that lay some pipe for the attraction.”
Alex’s feelings toward Paul also changed after he apologized for mistreating a former colleague — referred to as the “Stanford Student” — and making billions off their ideas.
“She sees the truth-teller in him. She sees that this is a man who’s willing to admit his mistakes. And it’s very interesting that you can be this person who can say ‘I’m sorry,’ and then continue to manipulate and control the situation,” Leder stated. “And it’s all real. It’s all real. Paul Marks doesn’t think he’s the villain. And there’s this physical attraction that takes over. That’s what love does. It makes you crazy.”
At the end of the day, Alex is “a very powerful woman, and that attracts very powerful men,” Leder said. “She needs her equal, and she finds it in Paul Marks the way she found it in Mitch Kessler.”
Season 1 of The Morning Show centered around Mitch’s (Steve Carell) firing from the network following a sexual misconduct scandal. Newcomer Bradley (Reese Witherspoon) subsequently filled his spot on the daytime broadcast as Alex’s cohost. Mitch later died in season 2 after accidentally driving his car off a cliff.
New episodes of The Morning Show premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV+.
