Actor explains how filming real-life sex scenes influenced her career despite co-star's remorse

Kerry Fox has spoken out about how she believes shooting an unsimulated sex scene has influenced her career.

The 59-year-old starred alongside Mark Rylance in the 2001 film Intimacy, which follows a failed London musician who meets up with a woman once a week for a series of intense sexual encounters.

While sex scenes are usually actors, acting... one particular scene depicts Fox - who was in her mid-30s at the time of shooting - giving oral sex to her co-star.

To get specific, Rylance's actual penis can be seen in the film and her co-star takes it out and puts it in her mouth.

The 65-year-old English actor has since expressed remorse over taking on the role - something that doesn't bother Fox, as she explains how filming the real-life sex scene helped influenced her career.

"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 told 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 Zealander continued: "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 went on to explain how shooting the X-rated film 'is not one of my regrets' but noting how her career admittedly 'went into a big dip immediately' after it was released.

However, she doesn't pin the decline on Intimacy, rather that she had gotten pregnant again afterwards - as well as her age playing a factor in what films she could audition for.

Mark Rylance has since confessed he wishes he never took the role, while Kerry Fox holds no regrets (Pathé)

While Fox doesn't hold any regrets - even after her journalist husband wrote how the film had affected him - as mentioned earlier, her co-star certainly does.

Back in 2016, during a Q&A, Rylance was asked why he chose to do 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 replied.

"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."

As for the oral sex scene in particular, Rylance recalled feeling pressure to perform for the camera.

“It soured me on my life two months,” he said, 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.”