Olivia Colman wanted sexy scenes cut from Empire Of Light

Olivia Colman wanted her sexy scenes to be cut from 'Empire Of Light'

The 48-year-old Oscar-winning actress stars opposite Micheal Ward, 25, in Sam Mendes' new movie but she's admitted the saucy segments between the lead stars left her cringing and she was hoping the director would remove them in the final edit.

She told the Daily Mail newspaper's Richard Eden: "I always wanted Sam to take out the sex scenes because I was so embarrassed.'

"I said, 'Why can't they go for the kiss, and cut, and then pretend that it had already happened?'"

In the film, she plays a cinema boss who falls for a much-younger ticket-seller and Olivia went on to credit Micheal with being "much more mature" than her and says he helped her steady her nerves.

It comes after Olivia revealed she was shocked to find out she is five years older than Micheal's mother.

Speaking on 'The Graham Norton Show', she explained: "There was one particular moment when I was astride Micheal in a compromising and slightly embarrassing situation and he said, 'It's my mum's birthday today.'

"When he said she was 43, I was like, 'OK, stop talking!'

She also addressed rumours Sam wrote the part of Hilary the cinema manager with Olivia in mind. The actress said: "Apparently it was [written for me]. But Sam is so nice he would say that anyway. He was watching 'The Crown' at the time and thought of me.

"We had a Zoom conversation during lockdown and I said 'okay, yes' before I even knew what it was. It is an incredible accolade for him to write something for me. It was an amazing part thank God – can you imagine if it had been rubbish!"