Carey Mulligan 'devastated' by suicide scene

Los Angeles - Carey Mulligan "couldn't stop crying" after filming an attempted suicide scene for new movie Shame.

The British actress plays the troubled younger sister of a sex addict portrayed by Michael Fassbender in the film and although she originally wasn't affected by the controversial scene, in which her character tries to slash her wrists, she admitted she was "devastated" at how hopeless her character felt.

She told MakingOf.com: "I was sitting there and this fake blood was pumping out of my arms and I was in this completely hopeless state with a kitchen knife next to me. And it was horrible, it was really horrible and I wasn't expecting it, it was a complete surprise, and I felt awful. 

Nude scene

"It sounds so pretentious, but it just made me feel horrible. I felt devastated and I felt so sad. And I'm fine. I'm great and well adjusted and everything's cool, but just the idea of being that helpless and that lonely, it was just really sad. I got into the taxi at the end of the day and I couldn't stop crying."

Carey also explained she was initially against doing a fully frontal nude scene but came to understand it was necessary for the role.

She said: "I've never, never been naked in a film before; I've been topless once or twice, but always in sort of very innocent ways. And I've always been sort of staunchly feminist about it, I've never relished the idea of doing it, and never if it was inappropriate or gratuitous in any way.

"But I just felt it was absolutely right; that's exactly who she was. She wanted to be seen, she's an exhibitionist and she's provocative."