Showtime’s New BDSM Series ‘Submission’ Is Everything ‘Fifty Shades’ Wasn’t

When Ashlynn Yennie got the call from Jacky St. James, Submission wasn't even on her radar. She listened, tentative but characteristically open-minded, as Jacky explained that she'd found her reel online and thought she might be a good fit for the new Showtime series she was helming. Ashlynn did not yet know who Jacky was, and she had no personal experience with BDSM at the time, but she went in for the audition anyway. The role she intended to read for was a supporting one—but the lead role is what she left with. If you ask Ashlynn, her life will never be the same. 

To be fair, the beautiful brunette, described by Jacky herself as an Audrey Hepburn look alike, is not new to physically demanding roles. Not even close. She starred in the first two Human Centipede movies, reminiscing on the phone with me in a breezy, nonchalant tone about having to pretend she was one of the world's most sadistic science experiments. Ashlynn didn't intentionally end up in the horror genre—it's not that she necessarily shares Tom Six's penchant for the perverse—she simply doesn't judge a role before she gives it a try. And it's not that she's down for anything—it's just that she knows there's a lot to be gleaned from opening yourself up to the unknown. Ultimately, it was that attitude that made her such a success as Ashley, the main character in Showtime's BDSM series Submission, and it's one that led her to emerge from the intensive project with a new understanding of sexuality entirely.

The synopsis of the series is not an unfamiliar one for anyone who's begrudgingly flipped through the pages of Fifty Shades of Grey: Girl is bored with life, and isn't terribly sure why. Girl meets an attractive gentleman with knowledge of a darker, more exciting world. But take note: This is not Fifty Shades. Not even close. Penned and directed by acclaimed adult film director Jacky St. James, Submission's protagonists succeed in all the places Anastasia and Christian failed to paint an accurate portrait of BDSM or the overarching kink community. Our dashing dom isn't emotionally stunted by a traumatic childhood, for one. And Ashley, the good-girl-turned-submissive doesn't blindly follow him into the corners of his psyche in a desperate attempt to keep him in her life. It's about her. 

“Some of the stuff she was scared to do, but she wants to explore. She’s not damaged—she wants more in life,” Ashlynn says of her character. It's a notable difference from the way mainstream media usually portrays those interested in kinky sex. Ashley is an emotionally healthy woman who suffers from one affliction: She was really f*cking bored in her last relationship, both emotionally and physically and she has no idea why. When she moves in with her friends, she's introduced to the world of BDSM and immediately embarks on an erotic awakening.

One thing I should add: Ashlynn did all of her own S&M work in the show. “There were 34 very specific BDSM things that were going to happen to her, and none of them I had ever done in my personal life," she says. "They sent it to my agent, who is fantastic, and she called me and was like, ‘This is nothing! This is fine! You've had your face in someone's ass!’” She has the goodnatured laugh of someone who never takes herself too seriously, even when she's acting in one of this century's most twisted horror movie. To Ashlynn, sampling more than two dozen BDSM techniques for the first time within the span of a month was just the next challenge.

“I really wanted to do a good job of portraying a girl who becomes interested in and enjoys BDSM,” she reiterates. "Jacky portrays it in the exact correct light that it should be." Ashlynn is a woman enlightened by the wonderful people she met in the adult industry, surprised by how irrefutably normal it all is—even when it's not. 

Jacky, although one of the most reputable adult directors in the biz, faced a similarly difficult challenge. Not only did she have to write and direct something that would rectify the inaccurate mainstream depiction of a BDSM relationship, but she had to do it in a way that was palatable for such an audience. 

"I thought what Fifty Shades did wrong was depict a BDSM relationship as being abusive. To me, it's so important that the relationship be consensual. Even if the people aren't exactly the most emotionally healthy people, that they're both consenting adults, that they both want the relationship," she begins. Emotionally healthy—this phrase comes up a lot when we discuss kink. I wanted to pick Jacky's brain on the matter; Is BDSM something that people with underlying issues partake in as a method for solving them, or is it just purely fun? Interestingly enough, the answer was both. 

"I try to portray sexuality in as healthy a light as possible, but if you look at most people, they do have emotional issues of some sort." It affirmed something I had begun to understand when I first started my career as a sex writer: As society becomes more comfortable with discussing sex, it's become abundantly clear that there's no such thing as normal or weird when it comes to an individual's sexuality—or psyche. Even the most "normal" of us sometimes become bored when we're only dipping our spoons in vanilla. 

“I think most women have had a relationship and been like, ‘Why am I not satisfied?’” Jacky says. “There are always kinks that exist in every human being. Whether we ever get to explore that is determined by a lot of different factors.” While most TV shows have teams of writers, Jacky was tasked with crafting this by herself—a steep feat when you consider that Ashlynn alone had 110 pages of dialogue. Jacky herself is the perfect example of the nuanced characters she so carefully created: She may write and edit kink-heavy pornographic or sexually themed content, but she edits them while listening to Taylor Swift. 

“It was so exciting to be directed by [Jacky], and to to be directed by a woman in this kind of content,” Ashlynn says about her director. “I learned a lot about myself, you know, sexually, with how I’m like, 'Oh, that’s actually not bad,’ or, "That gave me a sensation I’ve never had.' You can’t judge anybody who does this because it’s a trusting thing. It was a really cool thing to open myself up to that part of the world.” She pauses for a second to collect her thoughts. "I guess I'd say I learned that you shouldn't be afraid to go on this journey." Coincidentally—or maybe it's not—this is exactly what her character Ashley learns throughout the first season of the show as well. 

And just like we're advised to do with BDSM in real life, Ashlynn and her costars had to consult the professionals before proceeding down this particular rabbit hole. "We had BDSM consultants. Skin Diamond is one, an incredible actress and an amazing performer, who taught me so much about how a submissive would act in this situation," Ashlynn says of one of her on-set roommates. Skin herself chimed in on the matter: "There are so many genuine, professional fetishists that were on board working with the film, myself included and Aiden Starr, who was the official dominatrix liaison on set." Did the Fifty Shades set have a dominatrix liaison? I think not. 

Skin, who plays Dylan in the series, was also quick to reiterate the differences between the realities of being a submissive and the way it's portrayed in mainstream media. "A really good example of this is my character—she’s a submissive, but she’s very dominant. She’s not a victim at all. She’s actually a really bad submissive because she’s too bratty. It’s the perfect way to show just how wide the dynamic of BDSM is. Just because someone might have submissive tendencies doesn’t make them a weak-willed person." Like any other sexual act, our reasons for being the way we are just aren't that simple, it seems.

The entire cast and crew is quick to reiterate how life-changing this experience has been for them, and it illustrates how powerful the assimilation of adult and mainstream content can be—slowly but surely, we're beginning to offer society a different narrative about sexuality. One where our own sexual and psychological journey is expansive and unending—where it is always just beginning. 

Submission makes its Showtime debut on May 12 at 11 p.m. ET. All images are courtesy of Ben Hoffman/SHOWTIME.

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