Chloë Sevigny revealed how ‘unsimulated’ sex for controversial film with co-star affected relationships

Queen of indie cinema Chloë Sevigny revealed that the real-life 'unsimulated' sex scene in one of her most controversial films took a toll on her personal relationships in the years afterwards.

Sevigny first stepped onto the scene back in 1995 for Larry Clarks' iconic Kids and has since gone on to have a decade-spanning career starring in American Psycho, Boys Don't Cry, The Act, Bones and All and Russian Doll as well as Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story and latest project, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.

However, one of Sevigny's most notable performances was in the 2003 erotic-thriller, The Brown Bunny, which was directed by Vincent Gallo.

Chloë Sevigny once opened up about filming an 'unsimulated' sex scene (Steve Granitz / Contributor / Getty Images)

Now, the plot of the film follows a professional motorcycle racer named Bud Clay (Gallo) who heads from New Hampshire to California to race again.

However, along the way, he meets various women who 'provide him with the cure to his own loneliness' - but only a certain woman from his past named Daisy (Sevigny) can truly satisfy him.

Sevigny performed unsimulated oral sex on Gallo while shooting, meaning that the act of fellatio was actually carried out, rather than portrayed through crafty camera angles and 10/10 acting skills.

It was clearly something which the world was not ready for at the time, though.

Reflecting on the choice, Sevigny, who was promoting her directorial debut, Kitty, at the time told IndieWire in 2017: "I think it was a way of kind of reclaiming myself, which sounds odd, but after the celebrity and stuff, being like, 'No, that’s not who I am, I’m this other thing, and this is what I stand for'.

"Or wanting to push the envelope."

The 49-year-old actress also confessed the movie negatively affected relationships in her personal life afterwards.

Sevigny in The Brown Bunny (Sony Pictures)

She said: "It hurt me, in a lot of ways…Some relationships have had trouble with it. Of course, my mom and I don’t talk about it."

Despite this, Sevigny reckons it actually helped her career.

"I got my first studio film after that. I’d never been offered a studio film. It was Zodiac," she continued.

While it has been suggested that Sevigny and Gallo were actually dating at the time the film was made, Gallo has come out to deny this.

He told Page Six: "Chloe and I were never boyfriend and girlfriend. In 1995 we made out once in Paris.

"I feel Chloe has suggested we were boyfriend and girlfriend to lessen the boldness of her appearance... and to portray herself as a devoted girlfriend and victim rather than a great radical performer. "