How Samara Weaving’s Husband Jimmy Warden Felt Directing Her Kisses with Ray Nicholson inBorderline(Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

(Left-right:) Jimmy Warden and Samara Weaving in 2023; Ray Nicholson in 2025.Photo:Kayla Oaddams/WireImage; Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Kayla Oaddams/WireImage; Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Ray Nicholsonshares more than a few intensely intimate moments with Samara Weaving in their new movie. For first-time director Jimmy Warden — Weaving’s real-life husband — it’s all part of the process.

Horror-comedyBorderline, out now, stars Nicholson, 33, as Duerson, an obsessive fan of Weaving’s pop star Sofia who breaks into her home to stage their wedding. “I wrote it with her in mind,” Warden tells PEOPLE of Weaving, 33, his wife since 2019.

“I put all of her into all of these scenes when they were conceived,” theCocaine Bearscreenwriter recalls with a laugh. “So even kissing Ray Nicholson, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, my wife’s doing this. I should make sure that she kisses Ray for 10 seconds on screen.’ ”

“Without sounding too gushy, we have such respect for one another,” says Weaving, when asked about navigating personal and professional boundaries in such a scenario.

Samara Weaving in ‘Borderline’.Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

“We’re giggling in between takes,” she adds, making filming even Nicholson’s creepiest scenes “not scary.”

“Yeah, there’s a separation completely,” says Warden. “I guess that’s what they call acting, where I just can suspend reality when she’s on screen, completely.”

Watching the violent film later, however, Warden says one moment involving his wife in peril made him “flinch.” As depicted in the trailer, Nicholson shoves Weaving into a glass window of a door. “Watching it last night was the first time I was like, ‘Oh God, that’s a bit much.’ ”

Borderline, Warden’s feature directorial debut, was a chance for Warden and Weaving to leverage the “shorthand” developed in their marriage, he says. “To get an actor like Sam just makes your life way easier because she comes in so prepared and she nails everything without you even having to ask at all.”

Were there any creative differences between the married couple on set? “We argued about the wig,” recalls Weaving of her character’s hairdo. “I wanted a wig because my hair was dying. And he said no wigs.” Warden agrees: “I said no wigs.”

“I stormed off to the hairdresser and had to dye my hair really blonde again,” says Weaving, adding, “He was right, I think. He was right because wigs are really hard.”

Ray Nicholson in ‘Borderline’.Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

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source: people.com