Martin Freeman breaks his silence on the fierce backlash surrounding THAT X-rated scene between him and Jenna Ortega - who is 31 years his junior - in their controversial movie Miller's Girl

Martin Freeman has broken his silence on the fierce backlash surrounding the X-rated scene between him and Jenna Ortega - who is 31 years his junior - in their controversial movie Miller's Girl.

When Miller's Girl premiered in January, many viewers were left extremely 'uncomfortable' thanks to a raunchy scene that showed Martin, 52, and Jenna, 21, getting intimate with one another.

Social media users were in an uproar over it, branding the scene as 'gross' and 'troubling' thanks to their immense age gap. 

But now, Martin has defended the flick, explaining to The Times recently that it was meant to be 'grown-up and nuanced.' 

Martin Freeman has responded to the fierce backlash surrounding the X-rated scene between him and Jenna Ortega - who is 31 years his junior - in their controversial movie Miller's Girl 

When Miller's Girl premiered in January, many viewers were left extremely 'uncomfortable' thanks to a raunchy part that showed Martin, 52, and Jenna, 21, getting intimate with one another

But now, Martin has defended the flick, explaining to The Times recently that it was meant to be 'grown-up and nuanced.' He insisted, 'It's not saying, "Isn't [an age-gap romance] great'

'It's not saying, "Isn't [an age-gap romance] great,"' he insisted.

He told the publication that 'stories about difficult subjects' can be 'tainted by association.'

'And that's a shame. Are we gonna have a go at Liam Neeson for being in a film about the Holocaust?' he added, referring to Steven Spielberg's 1992 film Schindler's List, in which Liam played a businessman who joins the Nazi party during World War II. 

In Miller's Girl, Wednesday star Jenna played 18-year-old student Cairo Sweet, while Martin took on the role of her teacher Jonathan Miller. 

The film saw the two get tangled in a very complex and inappropriate relationship, that kicks off when Cairo writes a sex story as part of a creative writing assignment given to her by Jonathan. 

Racy scenes from this story are then played out on screen by the duo - which left viewers in uproar over the co-stars' age difference. 

Amid the scrutiny, intimacy coordinator Kristina Arjona revealed exclusively to DailyMail.com that Jenna was totally 'comfortable and sure' about filming the explicit scenes for the movie.

'There were many, many people throughout this process, engaging with [Jenna] to make sure that it was consistent with what she was comfortable with, and she was very determined and very sure of what she wanted to do,' Kristina said. 

He told the publication that 'stories about difficult subjects' can be 'tainted by association'

'And that's a shame. Are we gonna have a go at Liam Neeson for being in a film about the Holocaust?' he added, referring to Steven Spielberg's 1992 film Schindler's List (seen)

In Miller's Girl, Wednesday star Jenna played 18-year-old student Cairo Sweet, while Martin took on the role of her teacher Jonathan Miller. The cast is seen 

'Part of my job too is supporting her decisions. I adapt to whatever is the comfort level of my actors, especially on a production like this where there is a large age gap between the actors. 

'I'm hyper aware of both of my talent and making sure that we're consistently checking in and that at no point are any of their boundaries being surpassed. 

'And again, making sure - especially with someone who's significantly younger - that they are giving continuous consent.' 

Kristina insisted that she had discussed the 'level of nudity' with Jenna and Martin, as well as which 'simulated sex scenes' were required, before talking them through modesty garments and the 'additional barriers' they could use to ensure an 'appropriate distance' was maintained. 

The film saw the two get tangled in a very complex and inappropriate relationship, that kicks off when Cairo writes a sex story as part of a creative writing assignment

Amid the backlash, intimacy coordinator Kristina Arjona revealed exclusively to DailyMail.com that Jenna was totally 'comfortable and sure' about filming the explicit scene for the movie 

She said: 'There were many people throughout this process, engaging with [Jenna] to make sure that it was consistent with what she was comfortable with.' Jenna is seen with Martin

This information was also given to the actors in a written format 48 hours before the scenes were filmed, but Kristina stressed that they 'also have the option on the day to change their mind if they don't want to do any of the elements that we've discussed.' 

She revealed there were ample discussions between cast and crew before the scenes were shot and that test audiences were used to give bosses an idea of what was 'too much.' 

'For this film, in particular, because of the sensitivity of the content, they had some different variations of how they wanted to shoot these scenes so that audiences could watch them at test screenings to see what was too much,' she added. 

Jenna previously participated in a sex scene for the movie X with Kid Cudi when she was 19 and he was 37.