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Elizabeth Hurley has defended herself and her son, Damian, over an intimate scene in his new movie.
The actor, 58, stars in her 22-year-old son's directorial debut, Strictly Confidential.
Following the story about the mysterious death of her daughter and husband, Hurley plays widower Lily who invites her late daughter’s friends to her Caribbean estate for the one-year death anniversary.
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Except, her daughter’s best friend, Mia (played Georgia Lock), is desperately attempting to understand why her bestie died.
As part of this mystery, it’s unveiled that Lily is having a sordid affair with her daughter’s friend (played by Pear Chiravara) and thus comes about a needed intimate scene with the pair.
The 58-year-old said that it wasn’t just a 'titillating' shot that was put in the movie for shock value but was actually an 'integral' part of the plot.
Hurley told TooFab: “Well, it was a very important part of storytelling, when Mia, our protagonist, is on this quest to find out why her best friend killed herself.
“It was so integral to [the storytelling] that the actual physical filming of it wasn't even something we talked about really.
“We just knew that the impact it would have on the story and the rest was just our job.”
She continued: “For me, when I get a script, if I feel something is put in gratuitously - which has nothing to do with storytelling - right from when I was a beginner, I'd be like, ‘I don't get that, I don't understand that, that's not something I want to be part of’.
“It's just thrown in, in my head, by some male executive somewhere and I've never been part of that.
“I would not have been on this, but it wasn't. It was so integral. It was part of the storytelling, it wasn't just a sex scene thrown in for titillation.”
But while Hurley called this something that made her feel ‘liberated’, Couples Therapy star Dr Jenn Mann believes it crosses the line since her son directed it.
She told TMZ that she found Hurley’s comments ‘bizarre’.
However, Hurley maintains her feelings about the experience and told Access Hollywood that she felt 'safe and looked after' while shooting the film.
She said: “It’s relaxing knowing someone’s behind the camera who looks out for you.
“Because the things that his script needed me to do in this weren’t necessarily always done in movies many times before - but having him there meant I felt safe and looked after.
“It’s kind of liberating to work with your family, I may do it again.”
Damian added: “We felt in our comfort zone, it’s very strange. I think, also, when you’re on an independent film, you have 18 days to shoot, every single second counts.
“You can’t sit around mulling scenes, thinking ‘What if?’”
The 22-year-old also told The Times: "I hate to say that it [filming the sex scene] felt totally normal. I don’t know what that says about us."
Topics: Celebrity, TV and Film, Sex and Relationships
Britt Jones