Babygirl’s grossest scene is based a true glass of milk

One of Babygirl‘s most infamous acts of sadomasochism begins with a glass of milk. In Babygirl, Romy (Nicole Kidman) receives a mysterious order of milk at a restaurant, only to realize the sender is her intern, Samuel (Harris Dickson). Never one to turn down something that “does the body good,” she chugs without question, earning a “good girl” from Samuel and a wince from the lactose-intolerant masses at home. To anyone over the age of four whose constitution can no longer handle 12 oz of uncut dairy, it was a shocking scene. Undoubtedly riskier than a coffee date, there’s nothing sexier than the reckless abandon of overdosing on dairy, risking diarrhea and a phlegmy throat, in the middle of a steamy courtship. But this sort of thing happens all the time in Europe, where everyone indulges in dairy-based sex games.

Speaking to IndieWire, Babygirl director Halina Reijn says that while in Belgium, a “young Belgian actor,” who “was famous,” sent her a glass of milk at a bar. It was the perfect inspiration for her film because, as she explains, “milk is, of course, an archetype.” She sees it as “a great symbol of the animalistic sides of ourselves” even though humans are the only animals that drink other animals’ milk. Still, we can’t argue with her reasoning because it happened to her while performing in a play in Belgium, and she found it “hot” and only a little nauseating.

“I was playing in Belgium onstage, and I got offstage, and I had a really good run, and I was like, ‘Oh my god!’ I felt really good about myself for one night in my life. All my colleagues were like, ‘No, we’re going to bed.’ They’re all boring. I was all alone. I went to a bar, and I ordered something boring like a Diet Coke because I didn’t drink at that time because I was a control freak,” she said. “There was this young Belgian actor — I can’t say who it is — but he was famous. I knew of him. I’d never spoken to him. He was at least 15 years younger than I, and he ordered me a glass of milk. I thought it was an incredible, hot thing to do, and so courageous, and so I wanted to reward him by drinking the whole thing, and I did. It did make me a little nauseated, to be honest with you, because it was cow milk. It was back in the day.”

We don’t know if Samuel did Romy the benefit of ordering a dairy- or lactose-free beverage. Much of his power in the film comes off as downright magical, so we must assume he has access to those kinds of digestion records. Still, Reijn’s story puts the scene in proper context because, sometimes, a glass of milk can still be pretty hot, no matter how nauseous, bloated, or gassy it makes you.