Mark Rylance wished he never made the film 'Intimacy'.
Mark Rylance
The 56-year-old, who is currently shooting 'Ready Player One' which is latest collaboration with Steven Spielberg, has spoken out about his regrets over making 2001 erotic drama in which he starred opposite Kerry Fox and which featured an unsimulated fellatio scene by Fox on Rylance and full frontal nudity.
Although he was intrigued by director Patrice Chereau's vision for the movie - based on Hanif Kureishi's 1998 novel - at the time he now thinks the criticism he faced afterwards wasn't worth it.
In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, the Oscar winner said: "'Intimacy' was the most difficult job I've ever had. I was convinced it was a vital story about the difficulties people face finding intimacy in a big city like London. 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."
Rylance was cast in the film after filmmaker Chereau saw him in 'Cleopatra' at the Globe.
In the film, Rylance starred as a melancholy nightclub worker who meets a woman ever week for sex before discovering she is having an affair behind her husband's back.
'Intimacy' went on to win a top prize at the Berlin International Film Festival but it drew general condemnation among some reviewers.
In a previous interview, Rylance admitted: "It was disturbing. I thought how easily I could have been that guy."
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