Bridgerton star Ruth Gemmell reveals she ‘went home and cried’ over her sex scene

Season four of Bridgerton finally saw Lady Violet Bridgerton take her budding new relationship to the next level - but it turns out that for actress Ruth Gemmell, this wasn't as exciting in real life as it was on our screens.

The latest season of the steamy period drama has been many-a-sex-scene, with fans finally being introduced to several saucy moments between Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and the 'Lady in Silver', aka Sophie Baek, who is played by Yerin Ha.

Of course, viewers are no strangers to watching the younger Bridgerton actors getting down and dirty, but when it comes to the more mature actors, the scenes are practically unheard of.

That is until now.

Violet Bridgerton finally got her time in the spotlight when she and Lord Marcus Anderson (Daniel Francis), the brother of the iconic Lady Danbury, got jiggy – except, the scene actually left Gemmell in tears.

"I was a little bit shocked," Gemmell explained to Ciné-Télé-Revue, revealing that she had only found out about the scene in question when she was in the middle of her costume fitting.

The actress explained: "I was in a costume fitting, and I realised that I was being fitted for something that I had no idea was going to happen."

The 58-year-old went on to say that this shock meant she then ‘went home and cried,’ as she digested the information.

However, she shared that the scene was filmed in a way that she found suitable of someone her age.

She said: "Thankfully, we tackled this one in a slightly different way to the kids of the show, because I don't think anyone would want to watch that really.”

Gemmell went on to say that they used ‘a lot of low lighting’ in the scene.

Of course, this was a very important scene for the matriarch of the Bridgerton clan, as she had been on her own after the death of her Edmund years prior.

So, this marked a moment where she was able to get back on the horse, so to say, with Gemmell stating: "We don't die after a certain age. So, it's quite nice to kind of represent that."

She added of the significance of filming a scene between an older couple: "It's very lovely to see young love and love for the first time, but it's also very important and lovely to see somebody who has loved and lost and grieved and comes with a myriad of baggage, because everyone can identify with that, and I think that's important to show."

Thankfully, her scene didn’t cause her any physical distress, just a little emotional turmoil.

Unlike Ha’s, which saw her in a tub for six hours which left her with a skin condition.

Who knew the toll sex with a Bridgerton would take on a person?

Tyla contacted Netflix for comment.