Kate Winslet has claimed that she rescheduled a sex scene in Ammonite to be shot on Saoirse Ronan’s birthday to give her “a great memory in her film life”.
The Titanic actor, 45, stars opposite Ronan, 26, in the 19th-century period romance, which centres on the lesbian relationship between palaeontologist Mary Anning (Winslet) and geologist Charlotte Murchison (Ronan).
Discussing one of Ammonite’s most talked-about sex scenes, Winslet told Entertainment Weekly that she asked that the day of shooting be rescheduled to specifically coincide with Ronan’s birthday.
“I just wanted her to have, frankly, a great memory in her film life, regardless of how the scene played out or the movie turned out,” Winslet said.
“I knew that it would be [great] just because of the experience that we would share together. I knew that it would be very equal.”
Ammonite is the latest film from God’s Own Country filmmaker Francis Lee and also stars Gemma Jones and Fiona Shaw.
Some of Anning’s living relatives have disputed Lee’s portrayal of her relationship with Murchison, arguing that Anning’s sexuality was unconfirmed.
Lee, however, defended the storyline on social media last year, writing in part: “After seeing queer history be routinely ‘straightened’ throughout culture, and given a historical figure where there is no evidence whatsoever of a heterosexual relationship, is it not permissible to view that person within another context...?”
The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey gave Ammonite a four-star review, writing: “Kate Winslet is ferocious in this lesbian period romance.”
