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Los Angeles – Ryan Gosling was "frustrated" when film censors tried to ban his Blue Valentine sex scene.
The 30-year-old actor – whose latest movie had its NC-17 rating in America reduced to R following an appeal – worries that people won't enjoy his work if younger audiences are banned from seeing it.
Speaking about the ratings system, he said: "The process is frustrating. They don't tell you why, there's no debate, you just get told the scene you have to cut. And if you get that rating it means you can't air on TV, you can't have ads in newspapers and you can't screen anywhere but in big cities with art house theatres.
"We weren't saying kids under 17 should be able to see the film, but getting that rating effectively means nobody can see your film."
The scene that caused the controversy shows Ryan's character engaging in oral sex with Michelle Williams' – but he argues that it is not gratuitous but vital to the film, so people can see the "consequences" of unprotected sex.
The Notebook star said: "Michelle's character has casual sex, gets pregnant and ends up having the kid. It affects the rest of her life. It stops her going to med school.
"The idea that parents wouldn't want kids to see the ramifications and consequences of sex seems strange to me. The film isn't glorifying anything, it demystifies things."
Ryan admitted the raunchy scenes weren't difficult to film because they were supposed to be accurate, rather than sexy.
He said: "It was really important to us that it made you feel like you were watching people have sex, not like you're watching a sex scene. To be honest, that's probably why we got in trouble."
