Legendary British actor revealed why he regretted performing unsimulated sex in controversial film

An actor revealed why he regretted making a movie which included an unstimulated sex scene.

Movie sex scenes can seem pretty believable at times. I mean, that's the art of filmmaking, right?

Talented actors, clever camera angles and intimacy coordinators mesh together seamlessly to make us believe that what we're watching on screen really happened.

But, while actors often go to great lengths for their art, that doesn't mean some don't regret their choices.

Mark Rylance starred in the 2001 movie (Pathé Distribution)

British acting legend Mark Rylance, who has starred in Wolf Hall and The BFG, has previously admitted that he regrets starring in Intimacy, which came out in 2001.

The erotic film follows a nightclub worker (Rylance) who abandons his family after his wife loses interest in him.

He goes on to meet a woman (Kerry Fox) every week for casual sex, but soon becomes emotionally attached to her and further struggles when he discovers that she's married.

You can watch the trailer here:

In an 2016 interview with The Guardian, the now-64-year-old said it was the 'most difficult job he'd ever had'.

"I was convinced it was a vital story about the difficulties people face finding intimacy in a big city like London." he said.

"Hanif Kureishi's writing couldn't have been more intimate and revealing, but I found the making of the film and the subsequent publicity and personal attacks very, very painful. I wish I hadn't made it."

He also claimed in 2015 that he'd felt the director, Patrice Chéreau, who died in 2013, had put 'undue pressure' on him to do the sex scene.

"It soured me on my life two months, It’s my mistake, but I felt Patrice put undue pressure on me on set to do that." he said, as per The Wall Street Journal.

"And at that point I didn’t have the confidence as a film actor to say no.

"Now I think a lot of actors that people say are difficult are actually just being sensible."

Rylance said he now regrets making the movie (Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

Earlier this year, Margo Stilley told LADbible that she became a target for 'repressed sexuality' after starring in Michael Winterbottom's 2004 film 9 Songs.

Its unsimulated sex scenes received an immense amount of backlash that the actor said was 'extremely overwhelming.'

"I didn't understand that I would become the target of Britain's repressed sexuality and all the rage that comes with sexual repression [and] as the woman I was the figurehead for it." she said.

However, she still 'loves' the film, stating: "It's a shame that it's been torn apart into these little pieces and bastardised online, to be honest."