Chris Pratt Talks 'Passengers' Sex Scene with Jennifer Lawrence: ‘The Responsibility Falls on Me’ to ‘Minimize Discomfort’

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Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence in 'Passengers' (Photo: Columbia)

For more from Chris Pratt, watch the full episode of The Jess Cagle Interview, streaming now on People/Entertainment Weekly Network (PEN). Go to PEOPLE.com/PEN, or download the app for Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xumo, Chromecast, Xfinity, iOS and Android devices.

Jennifer Lawrence has said more than once that she relied on a combination of anxiety and alcohol to get through her first sex scene — which she shares with Chris Pratt — in the upcoming sci-fi drama Passengers.

During a SiriusXM Town Hall with PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly‘s editorial director for The Jess Cagle Interview, Pratt weighed in on the nerve-racking scene and said he did his best to make things less awkward.

“I don’t want to make generalizations based on gender, but I feel the responsibility falls on me , and I’ve been in that situation a couple times,” Pratt said. “Essentially it’s your job to just minimize the discomfort by, you know, making sure there’s nobody else on set than is required, having a closed set, periodically checking in, and just doing everything you can to assure the person you’re with that they’re okay.”

He added, “For all the sense of anxiety that comes leading up to a scene like this, you get into it and you realize there’s really nothing sexy about it at all. It’s just really awkward. But you know, it’s part of the gig and you just do what you can to check in with the other person and try to minimize any discomfort that they feel.”

Speaking to Late Night host Seth Meyers last year, Lawrence said she and Pratt didn’t discuss the mechanics of their scene prior to filming, and wouldn’t know what to say anyway. “‘What do you think, are you gonna hump me once? Are you gonna be on top?’ You don’t talk about it at all!”

Listen to Cagle’s full interview with Pratt on EW Radio (SiriusXM ch. 105) all this week. Passengers opens Dec. 21.