Spoilers below for the first half of Twisted Metal’s debut season on Peacock, so be warned if you haven’t yet watched! And then also be warned before watching!
Peacock’s high-octane new action-comedy Twisted Metal takes no time at all with its premiere to make it obvious that it stemmed in part from the same brains who scripted the Zombieland and Deadpool film series, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Seemingly everyone and everything is covered in sweat and/or blood at some point, with gunfights and other forms of over-the-top violence on display throughout for stars Stephanie Beatriz and Anthony Mackie. And speaking of extremes, Twisted Metal features some of the most bonkers TV love-making ever put on camera — ball pit sex!!! — and Beatriz talked to CinemaBlend about how icky it was to film, and why she’s proud of it all the same.
Oh, it was so icky. I mean, I can't even tell you. I mean, the shooting of that was such a bonding experience for Anthony and myself, and really, like everyone in the crew was just like, 'All right, we're here, we're doing it.' It was in this no longer in use fast-food restaurant, and you know, the AC doesn't work, and it's a million degrees outside, and it's like a million and ten degrees inside, and everything's sweaty. But I think ultimately, the way that it's shot is really creative and inventive, and funny and silly, and sexy. I think it did all the things that I think MJ and our writing team wanted it to do when they thought it up. I think it executed all the things that they wanted it to do. I hope.
Twisted Metal filmed in New Orleans in the midst of the summer months, and as a South Louisiana native, I can attest that even the thought of standing inside a building without an air conditioner is enough to completely ruin one’s actual libido. Like, you really have to be comfortable with someone to get all touchy-feely with them amidst a bunch of hot plastic spheres, which speaks to the co-stars’ chemistry and on-set relationship. So major props go to Stephanie Beatriz and Anthony Mackie (as well as the crew and the rest of the cast) for filming as much as they did within that setting and others, even beyond the ball pit stuff.
But I mean, since we’re talking about the ball pit stuff already, might as well stick with it. I love that viewers got to see two versions of events, with Quiet and John’s first experience depicted as more of a cute, slightly sensitive, rolling in the hay kind of sex. And then the second is hilariously just straight pound-town, with bodies slapping and thwacking against each other, which implies that they had a conversation that took into account other areas in the building where they could bang, and opted to go back in. I suspect a rejected episode title for this was “The Dichotomy Of Ball Pit Boinking.”
As if coitus in a play area wasn’t bonkers enough, Twisted Metal truly pushed logic to the brink when Quiet attempted to fall asleep within the ball pit. When I commented on the awkwardness of that scenario, Stephanie Beatriz made me guffaw with her response:
It was hell, it was hell. But you know, Leonardo did The Revenant. It's fine. I can do this.
If only The Revenant had only featured a scene where the character Hugh Glass soothed his emotional wounds by engaging in a few rounds of ball pit shenanigans. But that probably wouldn’t have helped with the runtime, so let’s all give thanks that Twisted Metal took that one for the team.
All ten episodes of Twisted Metal are available to stream with a Peacock subscription and a full tank of gas. Head to our 2023 TV premiere schedule to see what else will be popping up in the near future, and always steer clear of ball pits in the wild.
