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MORE THAN TITILLATION
Gentleman Jack star Sophie Rundle on her raunchy lesbian romps with co-star Suranne Jones
PEAKY BLINDERS actress Sophie Rundle is no stranger to baring all on screen.
But the 31-year-old insists her romps with co-star Suranne Jones in new BBC1 drama Gentleman Jack — some of the raunchiest ever seen on TV — are different.
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In an exclusive interview, she tells how her screen sex with Suranne, 40, is more than just “a bit of titillation”.
She says: “Whenever you read sex scenes in a script, your heart does sink. You think, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to shoot that’.
“But it felt different on this show because there was so much reason for it.
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"It wasn’t just gratuitous, it wasn’t added in and you weren’t there to be a bit of titillation.
“It felt like by the end of the sex scene, you have taken the story somewhere else.”
Sophie reveals how she was filled with terror before shooting the scenes and that her secret to keeping her dignity between the sheets is flesh-coloured pants.
Previously, she stripped off in Matt LeBlanc comedy Episodes in 2012 and appeared in a semi-nude clinch as Ada Shelby in Peaky Blinders.
But her new role as Ann Walker in Gentleman Jack — which starts at 9pm tonight — is her most daring yet.
She plays the love interest of Suranne’s Anne Lister, a lesbian who charmed her way into 1830s high society and planned to marry a woman.
After past bad experiences shooting sex scenes, Sophie explains how she was put at ease by Suranne and “intimacy director” Ita O’Brien guiding their every move.
She says: “It was very intimidating. It does make me very nervous — nervous to make sure it’s done right — because I’ve definitely been in positions where it’s not done right and I’ve had to live with that afterwards.
“As I’ve got older, and as I’ve worked more, I’m very keen to do it properly and make sure everyone’s taken care of.
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“But they were amazing on this. We had so much rehearsal time and we were really open.
“We all got together and we had Ita come in, so we could talk about it. You just don’t get that usually.
“Often you just walk on set and you’ve got a sex scene that day — and your flesh-coloured pants in your trailer — and you just go in and do it. That’s when it goes wrong and that’s when people are exploited.”
This week, Ita — the first intimacy director to be employed by the BBC — spoke about how she used sex advice book The Whole Lesbian to give advice to Sophie and Suranne.
'I had to do quite a lot of research'
She said: “I had to do quite a lot of research.
“The important thing was to have a template. If you have a text that explains what positions the women favour and how they make love, then you can really honour that.”
Such was their chemistry that former Coronation Street and Dr Foster star Suranne told how she found an instant connection with Sophie shooting the intimate scenes.
Speaking to The Sun earlier this month, she said: “By the end (of filming) me and Sophie were like two nans with a cup of tea.
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“Like, covers off, hanging out and it was great. But we needed to get to know each other to be able to do that.
“We had a ‘chemistry read’ first and when Sophie was cast, I knew straight away, ‘That’s my girl’.
“Mine and Sophie’s chemistry grew as you see it in real time, throughout the eight episodes.”
Sophie’s character fell “emotionally and sexually” for the audacious Anne Lister. And Sophie herself admits she had no problem relating to her role.
‘I’ve fancied people that I shouldn’t’
She says: “What’s so appealing about being told a story is that whatever your experiences, they can identify with different parts of the story.
“I’ve never had a mental break-down, where I’ve grappled with my own sense of religion, but I’ve definitely had my heart broken and fancied people I probably shouldn’t have fancied, and all that stuff.
"I’ve fallen in love and it’s all those things. We can all relate to that feeling of, say, your best friend’s older sister telling you about snogging a boy and you’re like, ‘Oh my God!”
Sophie, who is reportedly dating a man she will only name as “Matt”, has starred opposite some of the UK’s hottest leading men.
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In Peaky Blinders she plays the sister of Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby, and has said of the role: “It’s ridiculous the people I get to work with.
"Cillian just knocking about set is distracting. When Cillian arrives on set with those ridiculous eyes, we’re all a bit like, ‘Holy Lord, we are not worthy!’ ”
Last year she played the estranged wife of Richard Madden’s workaholic protection officer David Budd in Bodyguard.
Sophie, who is from Bournemouth but lives in London, reckons the 32-year-old actor has earned a shot at playing James Bond after Daniel Craig’s final outing next year.
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She says: “He’s really humble — he deserves it all. He’s a really lovely guy and he’s very, very talented.”
As viewers, we were regularly on edge thanks to writer Jed Mercurio’s Bodyguard script. It even had Sophie pacing up and down on a plane when she first read it.
She recalls: “Bodyguard was about Richard Madden. It was about David Budd’s trajectory and I really enjoyed being part of that because I really enjoyed Jed’s writing.
“I read that script when I was on a plane and I was so stressed out by the first opening . . . I was pleased to be a part of that.”
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Sophie has recently taken a leaf out of Fleabag writer and actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s book and set up her own production company. She is also about to go behind the camera and direct her own film.
She says: “So often when you’re an actor, you’re told what to do and what to say and what to wear.
"Your opinion is, at best, tolerated and, at worst, not wanted.
“I’m always going to be an actor first and foremost, but I certainly want to have a voice in the kind of work that I’m doing.
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“I want a piece of every pie — that’s the plan, anyway.”
Despite her steady rise, Sophie is rarely recognised in the street.
She said previously: “Almost never. Three times, maybe.
"I don’t think I look like I do on the telly. My hair’s always different and I’m in a different time zone in a period drama.
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“I don’t think even my mum recognises me from some things.
"So if it ever does happen, I’m so much more excited than the person who recognises me.”
There is no doubt she will be recognised more after this series.
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