6. Being from Iowa, you must have some real-life farmer's daughter stories.

Arnold: Let me tell you something. Iowa--people think that we're very conservative, but we -- the women especially -- are very sexually liberal, very open-minded, because what else is there to do?

7. Prior to Happy Endings had you seen Maggie Gyllenhaal's sex scenes in Secretary?

Arnold: Yes, I had seen Secretary, but I wasn't nervous about measuring up to James Spader. I was worried about measuring up to her because that was a brave performance. I wanted her to know how much I respected her. The good thing about this movie is that my character is pursued by her, so that takes the weirdness off of it.

8. Are you nervous about doing love scenes?

Arnold: If you really think about a love scene in a movie, yes, there is some nudity. What if I get excited? Worse, what if I don't? But if I get half excited that's the best of all worlds.

9. So it's not being naked you're worried about?

Arnold: It's not something I'm comfortable with. It's not something I'm comfortable with in my personal life. Any time I have to take my shirt off it's a big deal. She's a young, beautiful, talented woman and I knew that we would both have our shirts off. I just wanted her to be comfortable. I was afraid that I would get my feelings hurt, but she was so nice to me that playing somebody who fell in love with her was very easy.

10. Who took the lead in your sex scenes?

Arnold: I said, "I'm going to lie on my back. Other than that, everything is up to Maggie." She's like, "I got it. I got it. I'm the pursuer, I know exactly what to do." The scene became something beyond a sex scene. The director said, "You guys are going to be hot and heavy, then I need you to grab her face and have her look you in the eyes and make it about something else." It was really hard to do. You can fake having sex with someone in a movie, but if you're looking at someone's eyes, you can't really fake that. It's so scary because that means they're looking in your eyes and it's just painful because it's so intimate. But that really worked for the scene, and I took that home with me, too.

11. Jude, Maggie's character, does her seductions in and around the pool. Ever done it in a swimming pool?

Arnold: Oh, yes. It's tougher than it seems because of the water temperature. You just gotta stay in there.

12. Is your wife, Shelby Roos, related to Happy Endings writer-director Don Roos?

Arnold: No, she's not. It's not always my wives who get me the jobs.

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