Written by D.H. Lawrence in 1928 but banned in the UK and the US for several years, Lady Chatterley’s Lover details the sexual awakening of Connie Chatterley (Corrin).
After their wedding, Connie’s husband, Clifford Chatterley (Matthew Duckett) is paralyzed from the waist down after a war injury. Connie intellectually loves Clifford. But she longs for intimacy and begins an affair with the estate’s gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors (O’Connell). But Connie soon realizes her relationship with Oliver is far more than a fling.
Though Lawrence’s novel gained its notoriety primarily from its passionate sex scenes, it was also banned because Connie and Oliver’s relationship broke societal rules. Connie was an aristocratic woman, and Oliver was a working-class man.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover became Lawrence’s most famous novel due to these elements. But Lawrence’s deep investigation of the necessary components for fulfillment made the novel one of the most seminal stories in history.
Lawrence believed that a person cannot be fulfilled by the mind or body alone. Both elements must be present to be truly free and happy. This was never so fully recognized than in Lawrence’s final novel, Lady Chatterley’s Lover.
“I think certainly that it was the most exhilarating thing I have ever done in my life,” Corrin said while discussing Lady Chatterley’s Lover on The Graham Norton Show.
Though many actors may feel intimidated by being on camera while completely nude in the great outdoors, Corrin reveals they were drawn to the script because of this element. “In filmmaking, it is pretended, so it’s rare that you are actually in a situation where you are literally thinking and feeling exactly as your character would be, they explained.”
Netflix’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover was filmed on an estate in Wales with the Chatterley manor atop a hill that leads down to a forest and river. In their interview with The Cut, Corrin describes the meaning behind the location. They point out that the house represents Connie’s repression, while nature represents the character’s freedom.
“Being completely naked in the Welsh countryside meant you didn’t have to fake anything,” Corrin continued. “You were just feeling it, and it was quite amazing.”
The actor may have found Lady Chatterley’s Lover’s copious sex scenes thrilling. But Corrin also hinted their family and friends watching the film may have proved a little awkward: “They all sat through it and all coped…[and] they are all still talking to me!”
