Elizabeth Hurley has broken her silence after her son Damian said it “felt totally normal” to direct her raunchy sex scene in their new film Strictly Confidential.
Last year, the model-turned-director hit the headlines after it was disclosed that he had shot his mother’s intimate scene with another woman for the Prime video thriller, which is set for release on Friday.
The topic of the scene resurfaced recently when the 22-year-old, son of the late film producer Steve Bing, was questioned about the filmmaking process in an interview.
Now in response to the furore, Hurley, 58, has addressed the commentary and insisted: “People are making a lot of fuss”.
The Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery star told People: “I think there's a lot of factors making it a particularly interesting scene for people.”
The British star first noted the 30-year age gap between her and co-star, 28-year-old Pear Chiravara, then said there’s “the fact that I'm doing it, and I've never really done a scene like that before” before discussing her son’s involvement as writer and director.
Hurley added that while moments in the movie are “quite out there and daring, there actually isn’t any nudity. Nobody’s exploited at all. We all felt comfortable doing it.”
Last week, Damian admitted that directing his mother, in particular her sex scenes, in his new film “felt totally normal” and revealed they opted out of using an intimacy coordinator on set.
He told The Sunday Times: “I hate to say that it felt totally normal. I don’t know what that says about us. I was speaking to a lot of my friends who are also second generation of parents in the industry.
“They say exactly the same thing: that things to outsiders that may seem totally strange and extraordinary, for us we’ll just have grown up with in everyday life.”
He added that his mother taught him about sex at a “ludicrously young” age, and was more like a sibling to him than a parent.
In 2018, The Royals star disclosed that her son was the one taking her bikini shots which she frequently shares on Instagram.
At the time, the detail was branded “weird” but, in the interview, Damian said, for them, “it’s business” before adding: “We don’t think about it for any more than point, press, done, post.”
While she previously said of her son taking the photos: “Who likes being photographed in bikinis? No-one, even when you’re 22 and fabulous..
“But it’s relaxing knowing someone’s behind the camera who looks out for me, which was the same on this movie in a way.”
The remarks were made as they walked the black carpet together in New York for the premiere of the film, alongside Hurley's ex-husband Arun Nayar, on Wednesday night.
The three of them posed for photos at the screening, held at the Robin Williams Center, marking Damian's directorial debut.
