Why stars of TV ‘toyboy’ drama had REAL dates before filming
FILMING steamy love scenes can be a daunting prospect for even the most experienced actors.
So Ben Barnes and Julia Ormond, the stars of the BBC’s new ‘toyboy’ drama Gold Digger, came up with the perfect solution to ensure they had on-screen chemistry – they went out on a series of dates first.
Ben, who plays a charming 35-year-old in a stormy relationship with Julia’s character, a wealthy 60-year-old divorcee, said he wanted their intimate scenes to sizzle. Speaking of their dates, Ben told The Mail on Sunday: ‘We instantly had a great connection. We spent time on little dates, going to English country pubs and chatting about the world and the story.
It certainly helps forcing the closeness when you have so many scenes together of that loving, intimate nature.’
Julia, 54, admitted finding the love scenes awkward. ‘I was really scared about the intimacy scenes,’ she said. ‘Ben was much more comfortable.’
She joked that casting Ben – who played
Prince Caspian in the Narnia films – as her lover was stretching credibility.
‘I told them they should find someone balding or maybe with a pot belly,’ she said. ‘Then they cast Ben and I said, “What are you guys thinking?” ’
Ben criticised society’s double standards when it comes to women in relationships with younger men. ‘If the man is older, the woman wants something. If the woman is older, she is a cougar,’ he said.
‘I hope Gold Digger is a catalyst for a conversation about why many of our prejudices are the way they are.’
The BBC1 drama begins on Tuesday.