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Topics: Celebrity, TV and Film
Joshua Nair
Kerry Fox said she had 'no regrets' about filming the real oral sex scene in controversial movie.
The taboo aspect of sex scenes in movies has died down a lot in recent years - with some going on to become 'the first of their kind' in regards to representation.
However, 20 or so years ago, a prominent sex scene in a film could cause waves among the public and media.
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Fox was involved in one of the most controversial British films at the turn of the millennium which featured numerous sex scenes.
One of these scenes was a real, unstimulated oral sex scene that she performed with co-star Sir Mark Rylance.
The film was called Intimacy, which was released in 2001, and followed a bartender (Rylance) who has weekly sex with a woman he doesn't know (Kerry Fox), and then starts to develop feelings for her.
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Reflecting on the film, Rylance said that he regretted filming it.
Speaking to Wall Street Journal in 2013, he said: "It’s my mistake, but I felt Patrice [the director] put undue pressure on me on set to do that."
And in a web chat for the Guardian, The Trial of the Chicago 7 star also stated 'Intimacy was the most difficult job I've ever had' and that he wished 'he hadn't made it'.
However, Fox had a completely different outlook on the experience, revealing that she had 'no regrets' in doing the film.
Speaking to The Times in 2015, she said that the film had influenced her career - albeit sometimes not positively - but that 'filming Intimacy is not one of her regrets'.
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"My career went into a big dip immediately after Intimacy but that was partly because I got pregnant — so I was fired from my next role — and partly because of the age I was turning: 32." she said.
Fox then went onto explain how as a woman in Hollywood at the time, you had to play a character in her late 20s and nothing else.
"In the age of internet porn today, it’s hard to believe the reaction to the film, but it only caused a fuss here." she continued to say.
"In Germany the response was really wonderful and mature."
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Adding that the film was never meant to be popular unlike Fifty Shades of Grey, what 'extremely interested' Fox about the film was 'how we get to trust people'.
She said that she and the film's director, Patrice Chéreau, spoke about how great it would be to do a 'truthful film about sex'.
Fox also spoke about her co-worker's regret, adding that she supposed 'that was the point of taking these risks' because you aren't sure how you are going to react.
Calling Intimacy a 'censorship landmark', she said: "You can’t control how it will affect your career, but if you don’t take risks you’re destined for a life of boring work."