Actor Colin Firth was pelted with clothes and books by co-star Laura Linney in the United Kingdom while filming dramatic scenes for a new movie about the creator of The Joy Of Sex.
Linney was spotted launching her on-screen husband's garments and belongings out of an upstairs window into the front garden during production on the feature film, which carries the working title Comfort And Joy.
Firth plays British physician and author Alex Comfort, while Linney portrays his wife Ruth in the movie detailing the real-life love triangle that inspired the famous 1972 relationship manual.
During the domestic row sequence shot this week, Firth stood on the ground below an open window while being pelted with items ranging from shirts to hardback books.
The actor, dressed in a white striped shirt with a brown tie and a dark tweed suit, raised his arms to shield his head from objects raining down from above.
Linney, 62, was visible inside the frame of the open window wearing a red blouse and a pearl necklace as she hurled collections of papers and household items into the yard.
In addition to the fiery row, the actors filmed contrasting moments on set where Linney was seen clinging to Firth and following him down a garden path.
Filming domestic dispute on set
Witnesses on location observed Linney appearing at the window in an embroidered white blouse and pearls, waving down at Firth before launching further possessions into the air.
Among the items launched from the house was a book that flew directly toward Firth as he protected himself on the path below.
Firth kept his arm raised high to shield his face while looking up toward the window where Linney was positioned throughout the intense camera takes.
Filming for the project began earlier this summer, reuniting Firth with Linney more than two decades after they appeared together in the 2003 Christmas ensemble movie Love Actually.
Cast and creative team
Firth, an Academy Award winner known for his acclaimed performance in The King's Speech and his role as Fitzwilliam Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, leads the cast as Alex Comfort.
Linney, a three-time Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner recognized for her roles in Ozark and The Truman Show, plays Comfort's wife Ruth.
Academy Award winner Julianne Moore, 65, also stars in the production as Jane Henderson, a librarian who became Comfort's lover and collaborator in cataloguing the choreography of their sexual adventures.
Moore, known for her acclaimed roles in Still Alice and Boogie Nights, portrays the third member of the unconventional relationship.
The film is being directed by British director Sharon Maguire, who gained international acclaim for directing the hit 2001 romantic comedy Bridget Jones's Diary.
Story of the unconventional throuple
The film tells the story of the intertwined relationship between Alex Comfort, his wife Ruth, and her best friend Jane Henderson.
The intertwined relationship took place in the quiet suburbs of north London and lasted ten years before Comfort eventually divorced Ruth to be with Jane.
While Comfort enjoyed having both women as lovers, the two women were unhappy inside the love triangle that inspired the manual.
Comfort and Ruth married in 1943, three years before she gave birth to their son Nicholas in 1946.
Alex and Jane's eventual marriage was described as "peaceful but not especially passionate", while his romance with Ruth inspired a lot of his love-making manual.
For many years while conducting practical research for the book at his north London home, Comfort divided his time between the two women, spending Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with Jane and the other four days with Ruth.
Inspiration behind the sex manual
The 1972 book by the British physician and author is a well-known illustrated guide about adult sexual relationships and sexual health.
Described as "funny and erotic", the book was deemed to reinvent sex for the regular couple and "give them permission to enjoy sex for the first time".
The text combined an open, sex-positive tone of writing with detailed line drawings and colour paintings of a man and woman engaged in sexual activity.
Years ahead of its time, the book featured oral sex and exotic sex positions as well as more outlandish practices such as sexual bondage and swinging.
The sex manual is structured like a cookbook with sections labelled "starters", "main courses" and "left-overs".
While conducting research in their 50s, Comfort and Jane took polaroids of their bedroom exploits, hoping they would be used for the book.
However, publishers were unimpressed with their snaps, as photographs of explicit acts at the time crossed the line into obscenity and pornography.
Production details and family backing
Discussions for the movie began nine years ago before filming got underway in the UK this summer under the working title Comfort And Joy.
Comfort's son Nicholas Comfort, a former government special adviser and journalist who holds the rights for the film, has given the project his blessing and is acting as a consultant.
Nicholas has been on set for much of the filming so far to watch the story of his parents brought to life.
Speaking about his involvement in the movie, Nicholas told The Mail on Sunday: "I've enjoyed every minute of it."
