Andrea Lewis And Jamal Dedeaux Of Hulu's 'Three Ways' Open Up About Safe Sex On Set
In the new Hulu sex comedy Three Ways, a prudish young woman named Stacey decides to open herself up more sexually by having a threesome with her new partner Justin and another woman. Written and directed by first-time filmmaker Jamal Dedeaux, the provocative and sexy comedy comes during a time when conversations around open relationships, polyamory, and sexual liberation are becoming more common amongst younger Black people.
Speaking with xoNecole, Dedeaux says that the film was inspired by his love for such classic films like Boomerang but also by his own life more than the desire to get in on growing conversations. “I had a threesome, and I told [the woman that inspired Stacey]: ‘Hey, you should write a short film about it kinda like from your point of view.’ And then I just thought, you know what, I'll do it.”
For actress Andrea Lewis, who plays Stacey, the film was an opportunity to gain perspective on the different types of relationship styles. “I love hearing the discussions around monogamy or polyamory, just hearing the different opinions,” she says. “I've always been just a really open-minded person in terms of hearing others' experiences.”
Three Ways also brought on a new challenge for Lewis, the Degrassi: The Next Generation actress who has been acting for over two decades now. “It was definitely my first time experiencing something so spicy,” she says, dealing with the raunchy subject matter. She says that she and other actresses she works with discuss all the time how to approach sex scenes in their work. “It's always a variety of opinions in terms of some people are comfortable [with sex scenes], some people are not. Some people hope they never get something like this because it takes a lot of vulnerability.”
Working on the set of Three Ways, Lewis says she felt completely safe doing intimate scenes. “We had an intimacy coordinator, Tatiana, and she said it best: you can change your mind the whole time. There is nothing here that's like, you have to do it. You can say, I don't wanna do this, or I thought I would, and now that we're in the midst of it, it's making me uncomfortable.”
For his part, Dedeaux was deliberate about making the actresses feel as comfortable as possible to do their love scenes. “One thing I did was made sure we surrounded the set with women,” he says. “Every shot in the sex scene was storyboarded, or was it shot listed.”
“Ultimately, it requires choreography. It requires people to be very comfortable with each other, and it's definitely absolutely not as sexy as people [think],” Lewis says.
Three Ways arrives nearly a decade after Lewis released her cult classic web series Black Actress, where she plays a young Black woman frustrated with the film and television industry. With this latest film and a string of other personal projects, including a forthcoming docu-series called The Black Beauty Effect, Lewis has experienced what she describes as the dramatic shift that has taken place in Hollywood in the past several years.
“Black women in general in media have been very aggressive about wanting to see ourselves,” she says. “Now we’re getting to this place where not only are we getting a lot of diversity with representation, the focus is on how authentic we actually feel and look, it's like people really wanna see you looking like a Black woman.”
Three Ways is streaming on Hulu.
Featured image by J. Countess/Getty Images
Smile, Sis! These Five Improvements Can Upgrade Your Oral Hygiene Instantly
This article is in partnership with Sensodyne.
Our teeth are connected to so many things - our nutrition, our confidence, and our overall mood. We often take for granted how important healthy teeth are, until issues like tooth sensitivity or gum recession come to remind us. Like most things related to our bodies, prevention is the best medicine. Here are five things you can do immediately to improve your oral hygiene, prevent tooth sensitivity, and avoid dental issues down the road.
1) Go Easy On the Rough Brushing: Brushing your teeth is and always will be priority number one in the oral hygiene department. No surprises there! However, there is such a thing as applying too much pressure when brushing…and that can lead to problems over time. Use a toothbrush with soft bristles and brush in smooth, circular motions. It may seem counterintuitive, but a gentle approach to brushing is the most effective way to clean those pearly whites without wearing away enamel and exposing sensitive areas of the teeth.
2) Use A Desensitizing Toothpaste: As everyone knows, mouth pain can be highly uncomfortable; but tooth sensitivity is a whole different beast. Hot weather favorites like ice cream and popsicles have the ability to trigger tooth sensitivity, which might make you want to stay away from icy foods altogether. But as always, prevention is the best medicine here. Switching to a toothpaste like Sensodyne’s Sensitivity & Gum toothpaste specifically designed for sensitive teeth will help build a protective layer over sensitive areas of the tooth. Over time, those sharp sensations that occur with extremely cold foods will subside, and you’ll be back to treating yourself to your icy faves like this one!
3) Floss, Rinse, Brush. (And In That Order!): Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s not what you do, but how you do it”? Well, the same thing applies to taking care of your teeth. Even if you are flossing and brushing religiously, you could be missing out on some of the benefits simply because you aren’t doing so in the right order. Flossing is best to do before brushing because it removes food particles and plaque from places your toothbrush can’t reach. After a proper flossing sesh, it is important to rinse out your mouth with water after. Finally, you can whip out your toothbrush and get to brushing. Though many of us commonly rinse with water after brushing to remove excess toothpaste, it may not be the best thing for our teeth. That’s because fluoride, the active ingredient in toothpaste that protects your enamel, works best when it gets to sit on the teeth and continue working its magic. Rinsing with water after brushing doesn’t let the toothpaste go to work like it really can. Changing up your order may take some getting used to, but over time, you’ll see the difference.
4) Stay Hydrated: Upping your water supply is a no-fail way to level up your health overall, and your teeth are no exception to this rule. Drinking water not only helps maintain a healthy pH balance in your mouth, but it also washes away residue and acids that can cause enamel erosion. It also helps you steer clear of dry mouth, which is a gateway to bad breath. And who needs that?
5) Show Your Gums Some Love: When it comes to improving your smile, you may be laser-focused on getting your teeth whiter, straighter, and overall healthier. Rightfully so, as these are all attributes of a megawatt smile; but you certainly don’t want to leave gum health out of the equation. If you neglect your gums, you’ll start to notice the effects of plaque buildup, which can irritate the gums and cause gingivitis, the earliest stage of gum disease. Seeing blood while brushing and flossing is a tell-tale sign that your gums are suffering. You may also experience gum recession — a condition where the gum tissue surrounding your teeth pulls back, exposing more of your tooth. Brushing at least twice a day with a gum-protecting toothpaste like Sensodyne Sensitivity and Gum, coupled with regular dentist visits, will keep your gums shining as bright as those pearly whites.
Blac Chyna Opens Up About Her Initial Fear To Share Her Spiritual Journey With Others
Watching Angela “Blac Chyna” White’s transformation in real-time has truly been a sight to see. It wasn’t that long ago that she announced that she was reversing her cosmetic surgeries in an effort to go back to who she was before the world came to know her as Blac Chyna. In previous interviews, she stated that she was dissolving her facial and lip fillers, removing her breast implants, and getting a butt reduction, as well as removing the dimple piercings that enhanced her fame and controversial tattoos.
In a recent Tamron Hall interview, the mother of two said that she has “fully recovered” from the procedures. She is also celebrating one year of sobriety and opened up about being worried about how her new journey would be received by others.
“I’ve been in the entertainment industry for so long, right, and of course, like, you know, coming out, I’m like young, I’m gonna do wild things as we all have,” she said.
“...I feel like by me being vocal and showing everybody you can change your life and things can get better, like through myself, that right there is an accomplishment, and that’s a part of freedom, too.”
But as she started on her journey, many people have shown her grace, which is something she’s grateful for. “And then the fact that people have been showing me grace, it’s like amazing,” she said. “And I feel like when I did it, I just did it. It was more so like spiritual thing and I feel like people see that, and I’ve always been like my authentic self, so what you see is kinda what you get with me, and that’s just kinda what it is.”
Chyna, who recently received an honorary doctorate from Sacramento Theology Seminary and Bible College, has also repaired her relationship with her mom, Tokyo Toni. The social media celebrity surprised her daughter on the Tamron Hall Show. Prior to the sentimental surprise, Chyna dished on the reconciliation and having a better understanding of her mom.
“I must say, some of the things I have to take accountability for because, like my actions. As a mother, you don’t want to see your daughter doing certain things ‘cause it’s like it doesn’t matter what my past was or what we’re going through, I didn’t raise you that way,” she admitted. “So, it’s like, okay, maybe I was a little bit wrong. Maybe I was acting out a little bit. But I feel like as we grow older, I kinda see more, and I understand more.”
Chyna will be starring in season two of Fox's reality competition show Special Forces: World's Toughest Test.
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