Making the Scene: 'Deception'

Note to reader: We asked first-time feature director Marcel Langenegger to talk us through the making of one scene of his movie "Deception," which hits theaters this Friday. We recommend you watch the clip first, then read the story. You'll get more out of it that way!

"Deception" is a film about a young auditor (Ewan McGregor) who meets the woman of his dreams (Michelle Williams in the role of femme fatale), loses her, and then finds out he's become the No. 1 one suspect in her disappearance and a million-dollar heist.

When it came to casting the women in "Deception," opening Friday, first-time feature director Marcel Langenegger was emphatic that the film not play too deeply into an unrealistic male fantasy.

Part of the movie revolves around a secret club called "The List," made up of high-ranking Wall Street executives (both male and female) who engage in anonymous sex because they have no time for romantic relationships.

The way it works in the movie is that a member puts his or her name on a list and then gets a phone call from an anonymous person who suggests a hotel in which they should meet. Exchanging names is against the rules.

"For me it was important that the women fit the reality of the Wall Street group," said Langenegger. "They must be older, I wanted to have one of them be over 60. Otherwise it becomes this chauvinistic fantasy that a 23-year-old women calls you up and wants to have sex."

In this scene, a lonely audit manager is having his first experience with an anonymous member of the sex club (Natasha Henstridge).

Langenegger said the casting spec for the part called for a 23-year-old woman, but he changed it to 35.

"It was a last-minute thing," he said. "She got the part two days before, but it was important to me that the character be a bit older. The producers wanted a gorgeous woman and I said, 'OK, we should have a gorgeous older one.' "

For this scene, Langenegger told McGregor that he should act nervous but also eager. "He had to be shy and confused but hungry and in need of this," he said.

As for Henstridge, Langenegger just wanted her to be strong. "I wanted the character to have strength and girl power. I wanted it to be clear that she is in the driving seat, that we understand she likes it.

"Natasha is completely in control. I didn't want to exploit the nature of the story just to make a sexy movie," the director said. "I didn't want to reduce it just to looks."