New York model and actress Maria Di Angelis, who has appeared on TV shows such as "The Good Wife" and "Law and Order: SVU" — and was cast as Julia Roberts' body double in the 2009 film "Duplicity" — appears in a memorable scene in the highly anticipated Martin Scorsese movie "The Wolf of Wall Street," to be released Wednesday. It chronicles the hedonistic exploits of crooked Queens trader Jordan Belfort, who famously scammed investors in a $200 million "pump and dump" fraud in the late '80s and '90s. Here, Di Angelis lifts the lid on simulated sex, wayward extras trying to hit on star Leonardo DiCaprio and the tensions that inevitably arise from shooting an orgy.
Shaking hands with actor P.J. Byrne ahead of our mass orgy scene aboard a charter plane in "The Wolf of Wall Street," I'm excited that I've been paired with one of the movie's principals.
The trouble is that it significantly increases the chances of my face making the final cut. What is my mother going to say?
I'm playing a high-end hooker, one of about 20 hired by rogue financier Jordan Belfort [played by Leonardo DiCaprio] to accompany him and his broker friends on a debauched flight from New York to his bachelor party in Las Vegas.
"Oh my gosh," jokes P.J. "You're gorgeous! What am I gonna tell my wife? I'm so happily married, I can't even look at you!"
It feels surreal to be on a set in Brooklyn, made up as the interior of a luxury jet, and about to shoot an R-rated sequence showing simulated sex, binge drinking and a huge amount of drug-taking.
But this is what I've signed up for. Dressed in red silk lingerie, red leather jacket, red fishnet stockings and red Manolo Blahniks, I slip off my robe and take a deep breath.
It's not every day you get a call from a casting director inviting you to audition for a Martin Scorsese film. But that's what happened to me this spring. "It will involve some nudity," the casting agent warned. "Martin has asked for you, personally, at least eight or nine times."
My first reaction was: "I can't do it! I'm not taking my clothes off! I've never even cursed on camera!" But then I thought about it: "This is Martin Scorsese. How can you say no?"
The first step was e-mailing pictures of my body to prove I was still in the right kind of shape. They wanted to see how my butt and legs looked. So I just grabbed my iPad and, partially dressed, struck an arrogant pose and clicked "Send."
In "The Wolf of Wall Street," Leo DiCaprio spends most of the film with a bevy of beauties.
I'm all natural, and I'd heard Scorsese didn't want anybody who's had work like liposuction. If a movie is shot in high definition and you've had something done, it really shows.
After that, I got the go-ahead for the audition a few days later. When I entered the room, it was like that scene from "Flashdance" where the girl has to impress a panel of guys.
I looked up, and Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Rob Reiner and Matthew McConaughey were all sitting there in a line, with Martin Scorsese right in the middle.
They asked a few questions — how I felt about being nude on camera. "I don't know," I replied. "I've never done it before!"
I got the gig, and the next day we were choreographing the scene at JC Studios in Brooklyn to the sound of the 1978 hit "Le Freak." Then I was in a sitting for wardrobe, hair and makeup. They picked out a red lingerie set that I had brought along just in case. It was retro — kind of loose-fitting.
I looked around at the other glamorous women who were playing prostitutes. Scorsese certainly knows how to pick them, as they were all so young and beautiful. It was like being in a Miss World pageant with various different countries represented. "I'm so pale, should I get a spray tan?" I asked the wardrobe stylist, nervously. She shook her head. "Don't change anything because you really stand out."
The call was at 7 a.m. on the day of the shoot. On the subway, I was starting to get nervous. And then I thought: "You know what? Just act! Don't worry about holding in your stomach. Just try and relax."
What calmed me down the most was having my hair and makeup done. Everyone was very professional. The hairdresser said: "How do you feel the sexiest? With your hair curly or straight?" I looked around and every other girl had their hair straight. "I want mine curly," I replied.
Meanwhile, some of the younger women who were completely naked had fake hair glued to their nether regions. It's a period piece — the early 1990s — and all of their real hair had been lasered off so they needed wigs down there to look authentic.
Sex and drugs abound in "The Wolf of Wall Street."Photo: Paramount Pictures
On set, it felt a bit awkward because, unlike in the choreography, there was no music playing in the background because it interferes with the sound recording. There was no "Le Freak" this time. So we had to improvise a lot and simulate an orgy almost in silence!
During the choreography, they had shown us how to replicate drug-taking and, of course, looking like you are having sex without actually touching the other person. My character didn't have to snort cocaine — I was too busy wielding a giant bottle of Champagne — but a lot of the others did. The powder was apparently vitamin B6, which is harmless. The cigarettes people were smoking were herbal. The Champagne was ginger ale and soda water, and the whiskey was Diet Coke.
One thing that stands out in my memory is a girl who was faking sex with Leonardo DiCaprio. Earlier he'd broken the ice by saying to everyone: "Do you realize we are gonna be here, effing for 15 hours?" I don't think he meant literally!
This girl was completely naked, sitting astride him, while he was wearing a suit. She was very — how can I say? — enthusiastic. It wasn't acting. They had to keep telling her: "You can't just, like, hump him." She was all over him. So they said: "You're here because you're foreground. We're just going to move you back a little!"
There was also a fair amount of jealousy from the other girls who weren't matched with the principals. "Why am I not there?" I heard one of them say about me. "I'm prettier than her." Most of the guys were being very respectful, but I can't say the same about some of the background artists.
Some of them were so arrogant. There was this one woman whom one of the non-principal actors had to simulate going down on. There was a lot of waiting around, and she just kept saying: "Please stop staring at my vagina because my fiance is going to get upset."
Maria Di Angelis filmed a scene with P.J. Byrne in which the actor wore a thong made out of candy Smarties.Photo: Maria Di Angelis
Earlier I'd heard her say she wasn't going to do nudity. But there she was, completely naked. He wasn't looking at her vagina at all. It was her imagination.
As for me, I stayed pretty much fully clothed in my red leather jacket and lingerie, which is more than I can say for P.J., who plays Nicky Koskoff in the film. He was the most naked of all the people in the scene, wearing a thong made out of candy Smarties with a sock over everything underneath. Needless to say, I think he felt very uncomfortable.
But he was very sweet. During the sex scene, we were ad-libbing and P.J. looked at me and said, "Come over here. I want you to lick my sweet package," or something like that. I replied: "Make me!"
I told him, "Take me by the throat," because men like his character are pigs. They'll do whatever they want to you. I've known a few of them and dated a few. I said: "You need to take me strong. You're not going to hurt me. Just take me." So he grabbed me by the throat. "You're not going to hurt her," assured the choreographer. "She's a classically trained dancer."
Meanwhile, the girl who was on top of Jonah Hill — she really got spanked. She can't have been Method acting, because she was complaining so much. "I've got broken blood vessels all over my ass," she said. But she wanted to be with the principal, so she got what she wanted.
Apart from the sex, the trickiest thing about the scene was the plane hitting turbulence and everyone falling out of their seats and crushing one another. It could have been dangerous, especially because I was carrying a bottle of Champagne in my hand! I didn't want the glass to break everywhere.
When the plane violently veered one way, I remember this one woman falling onto the side of the cabin and literally bouncing off the walls. "I've got to thank my doctor," she laughed, cupping her boobs, which obviously had implants in them. "These saved me!"
You have to have a sense of humor about filming these scenes. But the men, especially, have to keep themselves in check. We were in a van on the way home to Manhattan, being bused from this crazy shoot, and I was quietly sitting behind two men who were also in the orgy.
"When the brunette said to that actor, 'C'mon, make me!,' I couldn't help but get an erection," one of them said. "It was so hot. It was the way she looked at him."
They didn't realize it was me. But when they saw me getting off the bus, they recognized me. "Oh, sorry," they said. "Was that you?"
I shrugged and disappeared into the night.
As told to Jane Ridley and Reed Tucker
