Movie stars Viggo Mortensen and
Maria Bello were left battered and bruised after shooting a hard-hitting sex scene on a wooden stairwell in new David Cronenberg film A History Of Violence.
The couple, who play man and wife in the gritty drama, spent weeks preparing for and talking about the scene, but had no idea it would leave them in so much pain.
Bello reveals, "I was covered from head to toe in black and blue and red bruises - Viggo too. His whole hip and his elbow was swollen. I bit the inside of his lip and it was swollen for, like, two days.
"We really committed to the scene and couldn't help but get physical. I was really in pain after that scene.
"There's a scene in the movie where I have a bruise on my back - that was filmed three weeks later.
"Emotionally, it was very tough too. I've been, in my life, such a control freak, and, in my work, I always question how things are going to work I talk about a scene for hours.
"For this, David (Cronenberg) simply said, 'Maria, you can't control this one.' The scene is about her finally losing control and she comes out with this animal instinct; a desire and a passion that she never knew existed before."