Dave Johns has admitted his first bedroom scene, filmed at the age of 64, was a little more uncomfortable than he would have liked.
The I, Daniel Blake actor stars opposite Alison Steadman in the romantic drama 23 Walks, about a pair of retirees who fall in love over a series of dog walks.
Johns told the PA news agency: “At the age of 64 I got my first sex scene in a movie! I never thought I would be saying I had a bedroom scene at the age of 64 but Alison has done loads of them through her career so that was OK but it was a bit weird.
“I’m glad they kept it until the end of the shoot and the sex was more Last Of The Summer Wine than Game Of Thrones. It was very tastefully done.
“But they had a closed set and on the day they give you these modesty pouch things and I had my bathrobe on and we were talking before we set up the shot and I was saying, ‘This is really uncomfortable, I can’t do the scene with this on’.
“The costume lady said, ‘Well, it’s industry standard’. I opened my gown and she said, ‘You’ve got it on back to front!’
“I had the thong round the front. So after about 25 mins of everybody laughing, we had to calm down, and that was my big love scene. It broke the ice alright. It wasn’t a pretty sight.”
Johns said he was attracted to the “sweetness and gentleness” of the story, adding that it is rare to see films about people who fall in love later in life.
He said: “Sometimes I forget that I’m 64, they talk about this ‘late in life story’ and I wonder who they are talking about and ‘Oh, that’s me’.
“I think they are talking about another person, you always feel the same as you did when you were 25 in your head.
“It’s very easy to disappear when you get in your 60s and you get older, people don’t see you the same as they see you when you’re 20.
“I would imagine it’s quite difficult to meet somebody because you either meet somebody at uni or at work, it’s only the young kids that meet people in clubs.
“The thought of me going into a nightclub now to try and meet somebody is horrific! You do disappear and it’s very difficult if you’ve gone through some life and things have happened to you.”
He added: “I think a story like this says that you can find happiness and love hopefully, no matter how old you are.”
23 Walks is out now in UK cinemas.