Normal People's Daisy Edgar-Jones says she's "proud" of realistic "ugly" sex scenes

"I'm really excited for young people especially to watch this scene where they have sex for the first time, where Marianne loses her virginity to Connell [Mescal]. I think it's such a kind of healthy and wonderful way of depicting sex," she said.

"One of my favourite parts is the scene beforehand, where they're just awkwardly making small talk and drinking a cup of tea, and they both know why they're there, but they're just chatting about anything other than what they really want to talk about, which I think is really wonderful."

She continued, "I think is really important to show it, because you know it's [sex] a massive part to being a human being and everyone does it. I think it's really nice to see two people who really love each other, care about each other and adapt to each other's kind of growth of each other's personal relationship with sex, which I think is really interesting to explore as well.

"So yeah, I really am proud of those scenes and I really hope people watch it and can relate to it, and it isn't always really beautiful and lit by candlelight with billowing sheets - sometimes it's awkward and a bit clunky and a bit ugly, which is wonderful because that's what it is. It's not always perfect, which I think is really nice."

The 12-part drama is based on Sally Rooney's acclaimed novel of the same name, which follows two Irish teenagers, Marianne and Connell, from school to university and beyond as they navigate falling in and out of love.

The series will land as a box set on BBC Three on Sunday 26th April. The 12-part drama will also begin airing on BBC One the day afterwards, on Monday 27th April at 9pm, kicking off with two 30-minute episodes and airing weekly afterwards.

Viewers in the US will be able to watch the series from 29th April on Hulu.

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