Julia Roberts wanted to change “embarrassing” Leave the World Behind scene
NetflixJulia Roberts has opened up about an “embarrassing” scene she wanted to change in the Netflix movie Leave the World Behind, but Sam Esmail was adamant to keep it the same.
Based on Rumaan Alam’s 2020 novel of the same name, Leave the World Behind continues to ride high on the Netflix chart. The apocalyptic drama stars Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali, and Myha’la as two families who fight for survival amid an inexplicable blackout.
Barack and Michelle Obama served as executive producers under their Higher Ground banner, and this fact teamed with the narrative, ending, and imagery has awoken the conspiracy theorists, who believe Leave the World Behind is “predictive programming.”
One scene that hasn’t been dissected by the online community has come into question by Roberts herself, who plays misanthrope mom-of-two Amanda Sanford in the Netflix movie.
Julia Roberts “embarrassed” by Leave the World Behind scene
The scene in question is the moment Ali’s George “G.H.” Scott and Roberts’ Amanda have a few tipples and end up dancing to the 1997 R&B song ‘Too Close’ by Next. But if it were up to the Pretty Woman star, the song would’ve been different.
In a conversation with MTV, Roberts explained: “Sam [Esmail] and I are very good friends, and we agree on almost everything – except that song. And I asked him to change it so many times.
“No offense to the talented blokes, but I asked him so many times because I was so embarrassed at the beginning of that song and Mahershala Ali is standing there, all eight-and-a-half feet tall of him.”
However, Esmail was able to talk her round. “Even just this morning, Sam explained yet again why he picked that song, and he’s completely right because being uncomfortable is the right thing, and just that song being kind of known but not really popularized,” added Roberts.
“He just has an answer for everything, but it was very funny to have to portray Amanda in that scenario of my boogie.”
Esmail went on to explain why he was so determined for ‘Too Close’ to be the song for that scene.
“You know, that moment in the film needed to feel very grounded and very silly, and I felt that the song kind of allowed those two characters to cut loose in a way that maybe a more popular or familiar song wouldn’t have,” he said.
“And, come on, those dance moves really complimented the lyrics.”
If you’d like to see what all the fuss is about, Leave the World Behind is streaming on Netflix now, and you can read more about the movie below: