Ryan and Michelle star in the hotly debated drama which charts the evolution of a married couple and famously features some raunchy sex scenes between the pair.
Both stars have been vocal about how close they became while shooting the film, having spent months in each other’s company living like a genuine couple. Ryan has now even revealed he and his co-star felt uneasy about removing their character’s wedding rings, as they felt as though they had almost created a real marriage.
“Most movies when you’re acting you’re trying to block out the lights and the trailers. Here, you had to remind yourself you were making a film,” he said. “Michelle and I found it hard to take off our wedding bands when it was over. We’d built this castle and then had to tear it down.”
The sex scenes between Ryan and Michelle in Blue Valentine initially caused shockwaves, and the movie received an NC-17 rating in the US, before being lowered to an R rating, which Ryan was relieved about. The heartthrob disagreed with the fuss that was made over the love sequences, and argues people mainly got angry because the scenes were so realistic.
“The sex felt real — it wasn’t sexy or ‘a sex scene’, and that’s why we got into trouble,” he told British newspaper The Guardian via Huffington Post. “You shouldn’t be penalised for doing a good job.”