Showtime’s Masters of Sex, debuting on September 29, 2013 at 10pm, stars Michael Sheen as William Masters and Lizzy Caplan as Virginia Johnson – real-life pioneers in the field of human sexuality. The series is based on Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, The Couple Who Taught America How to Love by Thomas Maier and is executive produced by Michelle Ashford, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, Judith Verno and Amy Lippman.
Sitting down to discuss the series at the Television Critics Association event in Beverly Hills, Caplan talked frankly about what audiences can expect from the series, which is targeting a mature audience, sexuality, and why this show is actually a “feminist story.”
Lizzy Caplan Masters of Sex Interview
We’re so used to seeing you in comedies, but were you looking for something like Masters of Sex to expand into different genres? This seems to be the weightiest role you’ve taken on.
Lizzy Caplan: “Absolutely, it is. It’s funny. I was pretty much doing comedic roles; I was carving out this niche for myself and I actually found it quite comfortable. I love so many of the characters that I’ve played. I’m really proud of this onscreen persona that I happen to revisit time and again. But being an actress, you want to be able to spread your wings and do other things. It’s sort of the whole point of, for me, wanting to do this.
You get to be different people, not the same person in different scenarios. So for this, I really believed…it’s interesting. I think as actress, people get on your case if you do the same thing over and over again and they get on your case if you stray too far from that. So I’ll be very curious to see how the audience takes this. Hopefully they’ll be accepting of me trying something new because I really do think that all the roles I’ve played have been leading up to something like this.”
So the solution to that problem is don’t be judgmental.
Lizzy Caplan: “Yeah. Yes, human race, don’t be judgy.”
What advice from your mother about sex did you get when you were younger?
Lizzy Caplan: “I feel very fortunate that I wasn’t raised in any sort of ultra-religious household where I was told to equate sex or knowing my body with evil or terrible, terrible things. I think it really is just the luck of the draw. You better hope that you were raised in a family and in a household like that where you’re not judged for such thing.
[…] I think that you’re either raised in a household where these questions are okay to ask or they’re not okay to ask. I think if they’re not okay to ask, you end up figuring out the answers in other ways. Sometimes those other ways are unhealthy. I think for girls, especially, protecting confidence in your own sexuality and being allowed to ask questions is of the utmost importance because the girls who go out into the world are trying to form their sexual identity. There are so many terrible directions you can go in. So I hopefully think that this show will help inform girls. It’s a very feminist story.”
Do you think Johnson would be gratified that 50 years later we’d be at a point where a show about Masters and Johnson in relatively graphic details could be on the air and provoke more discussion?
Lizzy Caplan: “Absolutely. I don’t want to speak for her, but I know that just the difference in the culture is tremendous in many, many ways from the ‘50s to today. But for women, there are lots of things that are really not much different, and I find that tremendously disappointing.”
In a way, are we as prudish as ever?
Lizzy Caplan: “Absolutely. I think right now the question of a woman who wants to have it all – wants to have a career and children – these are conversations that they’re reaching a bit of a fever pitch right now. Women are really fixated on this idea: Can I have it all? And a lot of people are saying no. The fact that we’re still having this conversation is frustrating for me, and I do think the most frustrating thing, honestly, is that there’s still a double standard when it comes to women’s sexuality and men’s sexuality. Men are allowed far more leniency than women.”
Or even the fact that you can show all the violence you want – there are shows like Hannibal on network television – but sex is still getting people upset on television.
Lizzy Caplan: “Absolutely. Listen, we’re American, we come from Puritanical roots. But, yeah, it is disappointing. If it wasn’t negatively affecting women still, I would maybe think it was sort of cute. But it actually pisses me off.”
Was the idea of women faking orgasms really revolutionary in 1956?
Lizzy Caplan: [Laughing] “No. I don’t think it’s ever been revolutionary. The only thing that’s revolutionary is maybe a man asking that question. […] The female orgasm – the idea of faking it – it was never that important to men, back then especially. That’s one of the main things that the first book that Masters and Johnson published talks about is that a clitoral orgasm versus the vaginal orgasm. Everybody believes what Freud believed. Freud believed that a clitoral orgasm was immature and for little girls and a vaginal orgasm was for women with their husband. If they could not achieve that orgasm, they were frigid and there was something wrong with them.”
With Mad Men, they told the women not to exercise so much because it’s a period piece. Have you guys been given any kind of input on that?
Lizzy Caplan: “No, not really. We were trying to make it… Mad Men is so dependent on style and I love that show, but our show is different.”
Is there a bit more safety in doing a Showtime series where you know they’re going to let it have 12 episodes?
Lizzy Caplan: “No, we didn’t know that this show was going to get picked up. Obviously, we have a better chance statistically because they pump out far fewer pilots.”
But once they ordered it from the pilot, they’re not going to cancel it mid-season.
Lizzy Caplan: “Yes, but I also think the pressure is heightened for the reasons that Michael said. The expectation for the quality is raised tremendously and we’re trying to tell one story and tell it well instead of, out of 22 episodes, say, tell four or five perfect stories and the rest kind of phone it in.”
Is there any update on a Party Down movie?
Lizzy Caplan: “No update, unfortunately. We all still want to do it. There’s no other updates.”
Is there a script now?
Lizzy Caplan: “Not yet, no. I think it’s still trying to figure out what it wants to be.”
