Christopher Eccleston claims an A-list actress ‘implied he was copping a feel’

The Doctor Who star has opened up about feeling betrayed by an actress who “abused their power”.

Christopher Eccleston stars in the new series of True Detective opposite Oscar winner Jodie Foster. Picture: Chris Delmas / AFP

True Detective star Christopher Eccleston has claimed that a well-known actress once accused him of being inappropriate during a sex scene.

The British actor, who stars alongside Jodie Foster in the new season of the acclaimed HBO show, has recalled an incident involving an undisclosed “A-list actress” from earlier in his lengthy career.

Christopher Eccleston stars in the new series of True Detective opposite Oscar winner Jodie Foster. Picture: Chris Delmas / AFP

Eccleston, who is known to many as a former Doctor Who star, told The Independent: “I did a sex scene with an A-list actress – not Nicole Kidman, who was brilliant – and she implied, in front of the crew, that I was copping a feel. Because she didn’t like me.

“(I was) fortunate that happened to me before the Harvey Weinstein stuff came to light, so I wasn’t put in the stocks for it. But I’ve never felt more betrayed by a fellow actor than I did that day.”

He then added: “I have to say to you that I would sooner have put my hands in a food blender than copped a feel of that person.

“It was an abuse of power, what she did. I don’t think that would have happened with an intimacy co-ordinator on set. I could have been accused of all manner of things... that’s about what passes between actors, with trust and the abuse of it.”

Eccleston has alleged that an actress attempted to make him look bad in front of a film crew during a previous project. Picture: Chris Delmas / AFP

Eccleston and Foster worked with an intimacy co-ordinator while filming True Detective, something which the actor revealed he was grateful for.

“I’ve done so many sex scenes over the years. But this was, I think, only my second time working on a show with an intimacy co-ordinator,” he explained.

“Those are a wonderful innovation in the industry. Not just because it protects people, but to creatively decide how a scene should be played. If I were a writer, that would be very important to me – because the way people have sex is how they communicate.”

The actor continued: “As a bloke, as a young man, you walk onto the set and see the majority of people in the crew are male. Then there’s a beautiful woman who’s naked. So unless you are a complete a***hole, you just continually ask her: ‘Are you comfortable? Is there anything I can do?”

But Eccleston said the intimacy co-ordinator gave him a new perspective when they told him: “I’m here to protect you too, Chris.”

“I’d not thought about that,” he said.