Kerry Fox has recently discussed the impact that filming an unsimulated sex scene has had on her acting career.
The 59-year-old actress starred alongside Mark Rylance in the 2001 movie “Intimacy,” a story about a failed musician in London who engages in weekly, passionate sexual encounters with a woman.
Typically, sex scenes are acted out, but there is one particular scene where Fox, who was in her mid-30s at the time, performs oral sex on her co-star.
Specifically, Rylance’s real anatomy is visible in the scene as Fox’s character takes it into her mouth.
Rylance, now 65, has since expressed regret over his involvement in the film—a sentiment not shared by Fox, who reflects on how this explicit scene has shaped her professional life.
“As for Mark’s regrets about the film, I suppose that’s the point of taking these risks: you don’t really know how you’re going to respond. 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,” she shared with The Telegraph.
“Intimacy was a censorship landmark. I remember Jane Campion, who had just made her film In the Cut with Meg Ryan, was really p***ed off with me that we were able to have such a frank oral sex scene. She said: ‘We had to use a fake one. You got ahead of me there.'”
The New Zealand actress elaborated: “Intimacy has definitely influenced my career a lot – not always in a positive way – although in terms of the film area I like working in and my ability to go to any festival I want in the world, it’s helpful.
“But in TV and popular film here in Britain, I simply don’t know where I stand. Because people don’t know what they’re going to get if they ask me to perform for them.”
Fox mentioned that filming the explicit scene is “not one of my regrets,” although she acknowledges that her career experienced a significant decline immediately after the film’s release.
Nonetheless, she attributes this not solely to “Intimacy,” but also to getting pregnant again and her age, which influenced her eligibility for certain roles.
While Fox remains without regrets—even after her journalist husband wrote about the film’s impact on him—her co-star Rylance holds a different view.
In a 2016 Q&A session, Rylance was questioned about his decision to partake in the film.
“Intimacy was the most difficult job I’ve ever had. Hanif Kureishi’s work and Patrice Chereau’s words convinced me it was a very true and vital story about the difficulties people face finding intimacy in a big city like London,” he stated.
“I know 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. And I wish I hadn’t made it.”
Regarding the specific scene, Rylance recounted feeling pressured to perform on camera.
“It soured me on my life two months,” he noted, adding: “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.”