Carol screened at the BFI London Film Festival on Wednesday, and its leading ladies, Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, weren't shy about sharing some of the film's most intimate details on the red carpet, according to Independent.ie. The film is based on Patricia Highsmith's groundbreaking 1952 lesbian romance novel The Price of Salt, about a socialite housewife Carol (Blanchett) who falls in love with a young shopclerk, Therese (Mara). The movie's integral moment when the women finally consummate their affair was treated with nothing but the utmost care according to both actresses as well as director Todd Haynes (Far from Heaven). 

"You always have to scrutinise and ask hard questions of those scenes - how necessary are they?" Cate described on the red carpet, continuing, "The consummation of their (Carol and Therese's) relationship is really important. It's just about how we were going to do it. We talked about the scene and there's a great sense of trust between Rooney and I." Cate went on to say it was ultimately a "relief" when the scene was filmed between them, "Both characters are quite isolated - not only because their feelings set them apart from others, but the gap in their ages. They go through these volcanic feelings towards one another so it was a relief to do the scenes with Rooney. Finally we get to be together."

Rooney Mara felt similarly about the scenes, saying she felt "comfortable" with Cate: "Getting to work opposite Cate was a dream. She's a very generous actor and super prepared but also she's very alive and in the moment. I don't know if many people know this but she's also really funny - this incredible Australian sense of humour and wit about her."

Todd Haynes also emphasized the necessity of a comfortable, respectful environment when shooting love scenes, "We do our best to all talk about it together, me and the actors, to know exactly what they're calling for narratively to how we're going to shoot it so they feel as comfortable and prepared as possible," he described of the process, "This is an essential component of the story and in that regard, there was no doubting it or feeling like it's exploitative in any way."

From what we've seen so far of Carol, the film looks as though it's taking incredible care of its content and escapes an exploitive nature entirely. Carol opens November 20th, so get ready to soon fall even more in love with this film and its co-stars than you already are. 

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