‘It was one of my favorite things to shoot’: West Duchovny on that belly flopping scene in ‘Painkiller’

There’s a scene in Painkiller in which the main character, high out of her mind on the drug she sells to doctors, belly flops straight into a pool. The purpose of the scene is to serve as a stark reminder of just how strong Oxycontin is, but according to West Duchovny, it was one of her favorite things to shoot.

If the name Duchovny sounds familiar, that’s because it is. West is the daughter of David Duchovny and Téa Leoni, and in the film she plays a young pharma rep named Shannon Schaeffer who schleps the dangerous drug around the country. 

Shannon goes through some moral struggles during the show, which is six episodes long and exclusively on Netflix. In an interview with Tudum, Duchovny shares,

“I think a lot of people are going to see themselves in her … a theme for her is [the desire] for success and trying to do good and grappling with the pressures of money and how that changes you.”

The pivotal pool scene takes place at a corporate conference in Miami. Shannon takes the drug and walks right into a pool, in essence morally waking up to what she’s doing. Duchovny said it was a favorite scene to act out.

“I think [Shannon is] not only drawn to Purdue because of the money, but because she thinks that she can help people and do good,” said Duchovny. “I think that’s the moment where she can’t come up with an explanation — there’s just been too much evidence of what’s really going on… Thinking back on Shannon and her arc and this final moment and just all the emotion — it was one of my favorite things to shoot.”

Painkiller is streaming now on Netflix.