Jake Gyllenhaal admits it was 'torture' filming sex scenes with Jennifer Aniston

Jake Gyllenhaal had a bit of a tough time on set while filming with Jennifer Aniston back in the day.

And by tough, I mean he admitted it was ‘torture’ to do their sex scenes. Although not quite the painful kind of torture but just a bit more of a, well, mental challenge.

The pair of stars appeared alongside one another in the 2002 comedy-drama, The Good Girl.

Aniston starred as the discount store clerk Justine who strikes up an affair with stock boy Holden (Gyllenhaal).

The film came with a fair share of sex scenes as they adopted a particular technique to make things little a less awkward. But it didn’t exactly help that the Marvel actor had a bit of a crush on his co-star.

Aniston and Gyllenhaal in The Good Girl. (Searchlight Pictures)

Speaking on The Howard Stern Show, the now 44-year-old admitted that like many others at that time, he fancied the Friends actor.

The Good Girl came along while the sitcom was still airing, with Aniston known by many as Rachel Green.

And the radio host said to Gyllenhaal of their intimate scenes: “It was torture for you, right?”

As he confessed: “Oh yeah, it was torture, yes it was but was also not torture, I mean, come on – it was like a mix of both”.

The Brokeback Mountain star backed this up back in 2016 too when he told PEOPLE: “I will say, I had a crush on her for years. And working with her was not easy.

“I was – um, yeah. That’s all I’m going to say. It was lovely. It wasn’t hard, that’s what I would say.”

But despite his ‘huge crush’ on Aniston, it wasn’t exactly steamy on set when filming the intimate scenes – as many other actors have opened up about.

It's been over 20 years since the film came out. (Jeff Vespa Archive/WireImage)

Gyllenhaal explained there’s a ‘mechanical’ nature to these kind of scenes, with a whole crew watching the choreographed routine play out.

"Weirdly, love scenes are awkward because there are maybe 30, 50 people watching. That doesn't turn me on," he said.

"Most of the time, it's oddly mechanical, right? And also, it's a dance, like, you choreograph it for a camera. It's one of those like a fight scene, you gotta choreograph those things and I always have tried."

And to help things out for the pair, Aniston apparently suggested the pair place a pillow between them as a ‘pre-emptive’ measure.

"I think that was actually a Jennifer suggestion, she was very kind to suggest it before we began," Gyllenhaal added.