‘Naivety’ led Downton’s Lady Sybil to end up in a nude scene

DOWNTON Abbey star Jessica Brown Findlay has admitted she was ‘naive’ to flash her chest in a scene during her big-screen debut – saying she felt at the time that she couldn’t refuse to do it.

The 23-year- old, who shot to fame as Lady Sybil in the ITV period drama, played a teenager who has an affair with an older man i n the 2011 British film, Albatross.

In one scene, she lifts up her top to show her bare chest and asks: ‘ Is that good enough?’ when her character is asked to prove her age to buy cigarettes.

She admitted: ‘ To be honest, Albatross was naivety and not knowing that I could say no.

‘I had no idea what was going to happen and thought I was going to be shot from behind.’

The star also sheds her clothes in Labyrinth – the forthcoming Channel 4 adaptation of Kate Mosse’s bestselling novel – but Jessica, pictured, said she would not do steamy scenes again.

She reflected: ‘If you’re going to do a nude s cene, be honest and natural.’ Cast in the fantasy drama alongside Irish actress Katie McGrath, as well as Tom Fenton and Emun Elliot, she explained: ‘The idea that actresses would work out at the gym for a thousand hours beforehand... I was drinking pints and eating burgers. But actually, it’s not something I would do again.’ And while she’s not in a rush to strip off again, the English actress – who quit Downton despite t he s how’s huge s uccess – said embracing her role in the fantasy drama was a liberating experience.

She said: ‘Acting i n Downton was quite restrictive – you can find freedom within it but it’s certainly not running around, covered in mud, wielding a sword.

‘Leaving terrified me, and that’s what made me want to do it. I’d prefer to fail and fall flat on my face.’