Actor Martin Freeman defended his film “Miller’s Girl” from a deluge of recent criticism over the sex scenes between him and 21-year-old actress Jenna Ortega in the film.
“It’s not saying, ‘Isn’t this great?’” Freeman told U.K outlet “The Times” after social media users trashed the film in February for including the scenes between Ortega and the actor, who is more than twice his co-star’s age.
The film, which was released theatrically in January, involves a sexual relationship between Freeman’s character, a teacher, and Ortega’s character, one of his students. Many viewers were left stunned by the sexual scenes they depicted.
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Jenna Ortega, 21, and Martin Freeman, 52, co-star in “Miller’s Girl,” which has been criticized for depicting sex scenes between the two. (Getty)
At the time, users complained about how “gross” the scenes were. One X account posted, “This Jenna Ortega/Martin Freeman film is so gross! So, so, so, so gross.”
Others asked, “MARTIN FREEMAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO JENNA ORTEGA,” and “Wait… Jenna Ortega… Martin Freeman?? *THIS* MARTIN FREEMAN???? LESTER F—–G NYGAARD FROM FARGO??? WHAT!?!?!?! OH NO.”
One user also commented, “Just saw a thread of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) groping Jenna Ortega in new show, strange times,” and another remarked that one of the scenes “might b [sic] the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”
Freeman, who starred as Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit” trilogy,” spoke out about the backlash around the time of film’s Netflix release in April. He called out critics for not understanding the “grown-up and nuanced” perspective the film gave on the nature of these relationships, and said the discomfort generated by the on-screen relationship was the whole point of the movie.
The actor slammed those who didn’t get that point, adding, “And that’s a shame.” He also provided an example of another film that deploys disturbing imagery for the sake of evoking horror.
“Are we gonna have a go at Liam Neeson for being in a film about the Holocaust?” he asked.
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Freeman defended the portrayal of his and Ortega’s characters, claiming the sex scenes were intended to make audiences uncomfortable. ( Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Netflix)
The film’s on-set intimacy coordinator Kristina Arjona attempted to counter the initial backlash surrounding the film during its initial release. She insisted that the actors, particularly Ortega, were made comfortable filming these scenes.
Arjona told The Daily Mail in January, “There [were] many, many people throughout this process, engaging with [Ortega] to make sure that it was consistent with what she was comfortable with, and she was very determined and very sure of what she wanted to do.”
“Part of my job, too, is supporting her decisions. I adapt to whatever is the comfort level of my actors, especially on a production like this where there is a large age gap between the actors,” she continued, adding, “I’m hyper aware of both of my talent and making sure that we’re consistently checking in and that at no point are any of their boundaries being surpassed.”
Despite the backlash from social media, major age gaps are not unusual in Hollywood relationships, at least in real-life, off-screen ones. Multiple famous couples have age gaps spanning multiple decades.
Actor David Hasselhoff, 71, is 27 years older than his wife Hayley Roberts, who’s 44, for example. And actor Alec Baldwin, 66, has 26 years on his wife Hilaria, who is 40 years old.
Fox News Digital’s Brian Flood and Elizabeth Stanton contributed to this report.
Gabriel Hays is an associate editor for Fox News Digital.
