Jupiter’s Legacy Has Super Sex So Powerful It Breaks Walls. Chloe’s Portrayer Explains How It Came Together

“You know what’s so funny?” Elena Kampouris asked Refinery29 over Zoom recently from the comfort of her New Jersey home. In this moment, Kampouris is everything her moody Jupiter’s Legacy character Chloe Sampson is not: bubbly, blonde, and happily “sweating bullets” after gamely shooting a promotional TikTok challenge. She’s even wearing a kitschy “Ka-Pow!” ring from childhood. 

“I did know from the comics that Chloe and Hutch get freaky and I was like, ‘I am here for it!,’”  Kampouris continued. “#Clutch, we’re shipping it.”  

Kampouris’ Chloe — a superpowered young woman shattering underneath the legacy of her iconic superhero parents (played by Leslie Bibb and Josh Duhamel) — and her love interest Hutch, played by Ian Quinlan, do, in fact, get “freaky” quite often throughout Jupiter’s Legacy’s eight episodes. This is a pair who goes from arguing in a hospital room as strangers in one scene to sharing a passionate sex scene in the next (“It makes me feel like we’re in this dream world where everything that goes on is so heightened); Chloe’s super mom Grace even catches “Clutch” in the act. 

“Chloe is definitely a sexual being. She expresses herself through her sexuality,” Kampouris, 23, explained of her self-described “wild card” of a leading lady. “It’s not only Chloe’s means of expression, but it’s also used as a weapon, which I think is something women throughout history have had no choice but to learn as a means of survival.” 

While Chloe’s “dominant” sexuality, as Kampouris’ said, seems to come as easily as breathing (or flying) to the on-screen character, bringing it to life was a much bigger, and more exciting, challenge for her portrayer. 

“The reason I like playing Chloe so much is that I actually have never had a boyfriend,” Kampouris — who broke out in 2016’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 — began. “I’ve had literally no experience. My first kiss, my first [foray into] drugs, my first everything is on camera. I’m learning it all through [work].”  

Kampouris turned to Jupiter’s Legacy intimacy coordinator Lindsay Somers for support as she explored the contours of Chloe’s expansive sex life. It was Kampouris’ first time working with an intimacy coordinator after years of sexually charged work (she made her Broadway debut in Dangerous Liaisons, of all projects). “A lot of the roles I play, I’ve gotten up to some business with people. It’s been stepping stones. I’m literally just learning it all in front of people,” Kampouris said of her resume. Somers, with deodorant and breath mints at the ready and constant conversations about comfort levels, helped ensure everyone in a sex scene could reach the height of their “creative potential,” according to Kampouris.   

“Lindsay treats [a sex scene] like, ‘This is like a stunt scene.’ There is choreography. There is a language under the sheets that we gotta figure out,” Kampouris recalled. “That really opened my eyes. She was someone that I could ask for help and advice and tips.” 

Jupiter’s Legacy’s directors also helped guide Kampouris. Take her wall-breaking sex scene in fourth episode “All the Devils Are Here,” as an example. The encounter centres around Chloe and fellow supe Nick of Time (Franco Lo Presti). The pair ends up at Chloe’s place after a night of stealing bottles and drugs off of Chloe’s straighter-laced superpowered friends at a club. American Gods director Christopher J. Byrne helmed the chapter. 

“Chis is like, ‘I want you guys to think of this like a tango. It’s a power struggle tango. It’s a dance,’” Kampouris remembered. “He wants us on our feet. ‘Like who’s taking the control and who has one over the other in this scene?’” Considering the fact that Chloe and Nick both throw the other into a wall, breaking it entirely, the answer is anyone’s guess. These moments of “play” light Kampouris up, even when they’re just a memory. “It makes me feel free to go and bite his lip if he’s cool with it. Like, Heyy! We’re just getting animalistic!”  

Kampouris and Quinlan’s comfort with each other goes all the way back to their initial meeting during chemistry reads for the series. Kampouris was in Toronto training for Jupiter’s Legacy when she was asked to meet a few actors up for the part of Hutch. Traditionally, these introductions are fairly chaste, Kampouris explained. But, that was not the case when she and Quinlan were paired together to run through some dialogue. 

“I was like, ‘I feel an electricity right now. The pheromones are flowing. He is doing things that are so interesting.’ I had a certain approach to the scene, but different things were coming out,” Kampouris said. “All of a sudden, he goes and kisses me. And then I start kissing back. We’re making out. The scene came alive.” 

When the casting team called “Cut!,” Quinlan immediately checked in with Kampouris to ensure he hadn’t crossed a boundary. “I said, ‘You’re apologizing, but I’m fine. Oh yeah. I think we just found our Hutch!,’” Kampouris continued, beaming. “I love Clutch. I’m pushing this shipdom, we gotta make it happen.”