Mark Ruffalo feared he was too old to romp onscreen in Poor Things
Mark Ruffalo didn't think people would want to see the silver fox having sex in his fifties.
Mark Ruffalo feared he was "too old" to perform sex scenes in his fifties.
The Marvel star gets into some "furious jumping" as slimy lawyer Duncan Wedderburn in raunchy scenes with Emma Stones' lead character Bella Baxter in the black comedy fantasy flick 'Poor Things', some of which had to be edited for the UK release.
And the 56-year-old star has confessed he was apprehensive about romping onscreen with the 35-year-old actress at his age.
He told Perfect magazine: “I didn’t know if I could pull this off.
"I’ve never done anything like [Poor Things] before."
He continued: "I’m 55 now so, like, the sex scenes—am I too old to be doing that kind of stuff? Does anyone want to see that?"
However, in a separate interview with Digital Spy, he insisted the scenes were necessary for Bella's natural growth.
He explained: "It's a huge part of the story.
"It's a woman growing from very early on through her teens to her fully realised adult.
"How many of us in our teens, all we really cared about was sex. If we can do what Bella and Duncan did in our teens – some of us more lucky than others did get to do that – it's such an important part of our human development."
Emma has also defended the risque scenes and insisted she's not keen on being "naked all the time", but wanted to "honour" the character.
She told Radio 4's 'Front Row': "So much of this was about being true to Bella's experience. It [the sex] is obviously a huge part of her experience and her growth, as it is, I think, for most people in life.
"But I see it as just one aspect of many - her discovery of food, philosophy, travel and dance. Sex is another aspect. Bella is completely free and without shame about her body. She doesn't know to be embarrassed by these things or to cover things up or not dive into the full experience when it comes to anything.
"So for the camera to sort of shy away from that, or to say like, OK, well, we'll just cut all of this out because our society functions in a particular way ... it felt like a lack of being honest about who Bella is.
"I'm not a person that just wants to be naked all the time, but I am someone who wants to honour the character as fully as I possibly can. That's part of her journey."
