Lea Seydoux, who played the lead role in “Blue Is The Warmest Color,” a 2013 film, said that she felt “like a prostitute” during the film’s centerpiece sex scene.

In an interview with The Independent, Seydoux and co-star Adele Exarchopoulos spoke about the unorthodox production methods of director Abdellatif Kechiche in making the film, which depicts a romance between two women.

Seydoux said that filming the sex scene was “kind of humiliating sometimes” and that “he was using three cameras, and when you have to fake your orgasm for six hours … I can’t say that it was nothing.”

The actresses previously discussed the scene in an interview with The Daily Beast in September, with Exarchopoulos noting that Kechiche “really wanted us to give him everything.”

She added that “most people don’t even dare to ask the things that he did, and they’re more respectful — you get reassured during sex scenes, and they’re choreographed, which desexualizes the act.”

Seydoux also mentioned that there was one sexual act that she wouldn’t perform onscreen: “cunnilingus!”

Kechiche did not take kindly to the actresses’ comments. During a press event for the film, he said, “How indecent to talk about pain when doing one of the best jobs in the world.

The orderlies suffer, the unemployed suffer, construction workers could talk about suffering.”

He added, “How, when you are adored, when you go up on the red carpet, when we receive awards, how we can speak of suffering?”

The director also said that the post-production controversy surrounding the film had sullied the experience of making it, including the Palme d’Or win at the Cannes Film Festival.

“I think this film should not go out, it was too dirty,” he said.

“The Palme d’Or was a brief moment of happiness, then I felt humiliated, disgraced. I felt a rejection of me, I live like a curse.”

In the same interview with The Independent, Exarchopoulos mentioned that Kechiche wanted the actors to drink real alcohol when the scene required it, so that it did not feel like a “fabrication.”

She said that “he wanted the characters to drink real wine, and then it was just like, ‘Oh my God.'”

The film received critical acclaim for its portrayal of the love story between the two women, but it also sparked controversy over its lengthy and explicit sex scenes.

Seydoux and Exarchopoulos were both praised for their performances, but they also faced criticism from Kechiche, who said that they did not promote the film enough.

Seydoux, who has been vocal about the difficulties she faced on the set of “Blue Is The Warmest Color,” has also discussed her experiences working with other male directors.

In a 2020 interview with The Guardian, she said that “the power structure on a set is always in favour of the director, and the men,” and that she had often felt objectified by male directors.

Despite the controversy surrounding the film, “Blue Is The Warmest Color” remains a celebrated work of cinema.

It won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2013, and it has been praised for its honest and moving portrayal of a same-sex relationship.

The film has also been credited with helping to break down barriers for LGBTQ+ representation in mainstream cinema.