Mark Strong reveals love scenes are banned and kissing is discouraged on set

Actor Mark Strong has given a startling description of the lengths the profession is going to in order to get the movie and TV business in action again after the worst of the pandemic.

Strong, 57, who starred in two of the Kingsman comedy spy films, and is the voice of the Government’s Covid-19 TV campaigns, is now involved in one of the first UK dramas to resume filming after a forced five-month hiatus.

And he revealed that sex scenes were banned and that even kissing was not encouraged if a look or a gesture could be used instead.

Actor Mark Strong has given a startling description of the lengths the profession is going to in order to get the movie and TV business in action again after the worst of the pandemic. He is pictured above as Daniel Milton in Temple

Strong is back as Daniel Milton in Sky One’s mini-series Temple, playing a brilliant surgeon who runs an illegal clinic for criminals beneath London’s Temple underground station.

The cast, including Line Of Duty’s Daniel Mays and Game Of Thrones actress Carice van Houten, have been divided into three bubbles which operate in isolation of each other.

On set they wear masks until the moment they set foot in front of the camera, while make-up and costume teams wear full PPE and regularly disinfect areas.

Strong said: ‘We eliminated things from the script that weren’t entirely necessary. So if there were too many extras or if there was a kiss which could be signified by looking into each other’s eyes we chose that option instead.

The cast, including Line Of Duty’s Daniel Mays and Game Of Thrones actress Carice van Houten (who is seen above in Game of Thrones) have been divided into three bubbles which operate in isolation of each other

‘There are no love scenes or scenes of a sexual nature.’ He added: ‘If you are making a show like Normal People, I don’t know how you would deal with that!’

He said cast and crew have been divided into bubbles to minimise social contact and must limit their movements outside of work for the next six months in a form of ‘soft isolation’.

Additionally, there are regular coronavirus tests on set.

‘I really wanted to get back to work,’ said the actor. 

Daniel Mays is pictured above in Line of Duty. He is in the cast of Temple. On set they wear masks until the moment they set foot in front of the camera, while make-up and costume teams wear full PPE and regularly disinfect areas 

‘We are quite proud about going ahead and being one of the first to get back. My only worry was the fun of being on set that the banter would be somehow diminished. It doesn’t seem to have been so far and I don’t think it will be. I think everybody is going to make a really good fist of behaving as if it was normal.’

Covid-safe guidelines have been issued across the industry, meaning all eyes will be on how the drama, produced by Strong’s wife Liza Marshall, is filmed in a more restricted way.

The lockdown has already cost the UK film and television sector £36 billion as it shrank by 57 per cent. 

And Strong, a father-of-two, said cast and crew were eager to make the show work, knowing people’s livelihoods are at stake.

He said: ‘You are responsible for a hundred people and if the show closes down then those people don’t have a job.

‘We feel that very keenly. We want a safe environment so that we can carry on shooting and everyone can stay in work and earn money to feed themselves.’