Shelley Hennig Thinks Her Nude Scenes In Obliterated 'Make Sense'
"Obliterated" shows us what happens when a team of soldiers decides to celebrate the end of a major mission. They've just saved Las Vegas, so why not party down among the glitterati and enjoy themselves? They're in the middle of a rager when they receive a call — it turns out that the nuclear bomb they diffused was a fake. The entire team is called back to finish the mission even though they're now collectively, well, obliterated on illicit substances.
If that feels like a throwback to that wave of party-hearty early-'00s adult comedies, it won't be shocking to learn that "Obliterated" has plenty of equal-opportunity nudity from much of its main cast. There are all sorts of body parts on display, and Shelley Hennig, who plays team leader Ava Winters, is not spared. She defended the level of nakedness the part required, explaining that she felt comfortable and that her nude scene worked for her character. "It makes sense in the tone of the show, and we all felt so safe. It starts from the top. I mean that. Jon [Hurwitz], Josh [Heald], Hayden [Schlossberg, series co-creators, producers, writers, and directors], they're just magical," Hennig told interviewer Kyle Meredith in December 2023.
Hennig also mentioned that she talked about the level of nakedness required by the comedy with her castmates. "That was certainly a discussion, and the girls were like, 'Okay, who's gonna show boobs? Who's gonna show butt?'" Hennig said jokingly. "... I decided what I felt comfortable with, and it's definitely more than I've done before. So, [to] my family in Louisiana, my apologies." Yet, when it came to another bit of implied nudity in "Obliterated," Hennig got creative.
Shelley Hennig employed a secret weapon for Ava's bottomlessness
While discussing the level of nudity on display in "Obliterated," Shelley Hennig admitted she had to get creative to solve an issue with at least one part of Ava's wardrobe. The character is supposed to be commando under her black dress throughout a chunk of the show. Hennig explained to Kyle Meredith that she and the series' wardrobe staff didn't think through how to deal with Ava's clothing issue before greenlighting the scene. Ava does not take the time to put underwear on, and Hennig was subsequently required to do several physical stunts; thus, she revealed that she solved the issue by donning a pair of Spanx under the dress.
Hennig explained that when essaying such a daring part, on-set comfort helps a lot and can even assist an actor in figuring out how to give their all during an audition. To wit, the first time she met Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, she was testing for a role in "American Reunion," an "American Pie" sequel. During the reading with Chris Kline, she decided to go for broke by representing her character's state of intoxication by humping a chair.
While Hennig didn't get that role, it set up a reference point between herself and her agent. "That became the bar between my manager and [me]: 'How did your audition go? Did you hump a chair?' Not actually, but that set a standard. 'Did you give it all that you had, within reason?'" she explained. In a wild and wooly comedy like "Obliterated," going all out can only be a good thing.