Zendaya and John David Washington on shooting intimate scenes during a pandemic

The new movie Malcolm & Marie was the first major film to be shot during the pandemic. The drama stars Zendaya and John David Washington and is directed by Euphoria creator Sam Levinson. They recently spoke to Yahoo Entertainment about performing while the coronavirus raged on around them.

"It was a very scary time for the world and we all wanted to make this movie, but we wanted to first and foremost make it safely," Zendaya said.

Washington weighed in on some of the film's romantic moments, saying, "Intimate scenes scare me just in general. So I'm terrible with those, but I felt extremely confident about working during the pandemic because of protocol ... I just felt safe and ready to go."

Video Transcript

- You can't imagine the reason I'm with you is because I love you. Everything that you've been through, everything, that's what made you you, the girl that I love, the girl that I [BLEEP] with.

ETHAN ALTER: Well, this is the first major movie to shoot during the pandemic. So starting there. Zendaya, were you nervous to step onto set, especially knowing you'd be doing some pretty intimate scenes early on in quarantine?

ZENDAYA: I think it was a very scary time for the world. And we all, you know, we wanted to make this movie, but we wanted to first and foremost make it safely, and make sure everyone was taking care of it.

SAM LEVINSON: We weren't going to do it if we couldn't do it safely. That was part one. Part two was, we wanted to use the restrictions of COVID as a challenge in terms of storytelling, to see, can we tell a story that's emotionally engaging, that has tension? You know, with just two actors, one house? And we also wanted to get our "Euphoria" family back to work with us again.

ZENDAYA: They got shut down the same way we did, and a lot of people weren't able to work and make money at this time. And I think if there was any way it would get people back to work, do it safely, and they could truly benefit financially, you know, on the back end and kind of restructure this financial idea of how films are made, then that would be a success for us.

ETHAN ALTER: Do you think you'd almost have more trepidation doing it now, given the way cases have spiked and things? You think you almost had it easier, in a strange way, back then?

SAM LEVINSON: I mean, look, it was-- I don't know if it was necessarily easier. There was a lot that we didn't know. But we did know that if we went and we quarantined in individual units, we didn't come in contact with one another, that we could really lessen the risk of transmission. It's been tough, it's been a challenge. It's definitely harder when you've got a bigger crew. But also, you know, we have to-- I don't know. It's scary. I'd be scared to go to work right now, but it's just one of those things. I think we're going to be battling with it for a while.

- You know that I'm thankful. You know that I made a mistake. So why turn it into something more?

- Because it's about how you see this relationship.

ETHAN ALTER: John David, for you, I mean, there are definitely some intimate scenes you have to do. Were you, in the back of your head at all, were you nervous ever? Thinking, especially knowing what things were like outside, sort of reading the news about the pandemic at the time?

JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON: Well, yes and no. Like, intimate scenes scare me just in general, so like, I'm terrible with those. But I felt extremely confident about working during the pandemic, because of protocol that was set, because of our producers, because of who-- our team, you know, Ashley Levinson got to Washington and company. Just like, I knew we were in great hands. And we were in Carmel, where nobody's allowed out, you know. So it was just-- I just felt safe and ready to go once that protocol was set. I was fine.

ETHAN ALTER: Well, and Zendaya. For you, I mean, you're back on big movies now, like "Spider-Man." I mean, do you-- do they sort of look at you as, like, you're an expert? Does Tom Holland ever come over to you and say, hey, what do I do in this scene? I need to know protocols here.

ZENDAYA: It is very different, you know. Because we had, like-- I was in the hair and makeup, and you know, and we brought extra clothes for set deck. And you know, we're trying to-- everybody's doing like seven different jobs, you know?

ETHAN ALTER: Well, Zendaya, when people see the movie on February 5, what do you hope that they experience from it? What's the emotion you hope they come away with?

ZENDAYA: Well, you know, I hope there's like a sense of gratitude. You know, for your partner. For maybe just people in your life that you love, that you don't say thank you enough to, or you don't appreciate enough, or haven't taken the time to acknowledge. I hope that that is maybe what people take from it. Make sure that you acknowledge those people in your life. At least, I know that that's what I like to kind of gather from it. If there's a positive thing other than, like, maybe, I'm sure there's going to be some argument started, and I'm so sorry about that. But on the other hand, I hope there's a lot of love also exchanged.