She explains that this was integral because coming into Pleasure, she was “very open about the prejudice I had”.
Kappel admits: “I think the best research for me was probably building actual relationships with people.” It afforded her the opportunity to build “genuine” connections and “ask all the uncomfortable questions”. When I ask her about any pre-production preparation, she reveals that she was flown out to the US from Sweden “pretty much immediately” to embark on a year-long routine of auditioning with co-stars, taking “erotic dance lessons to learn how to walk in stripper heels”, going to porn sets, events and venues to meet and interview people from the industry. It’s a movie that has benefitted from a huge amount of research, by both Thyberg and Kappel.
