Thomasin McKenzie was relieved when a diarrhoea scene in Eileen got removed from the shooting schedule.

Set in 1960s Massachusetts, William Oldroyd’s movie stars McKenzie as repressed prison secretary Eileen, who becomes obsessed with her new colleague Rebecca, played by Anne Hathaway.

In the novel, the peculiar Eileen compulsively eats laxatives, and this was shown in one sequence in the adaptation’s script – however, it was never filmed due to time constraints.

“I definitely wasn’t complaining about not having to do that,” the Last Night in Soho actress told IndieWire. “My team has recommended me not to do films because of scenes similar to that, like, you don’t want to be known for doing that.”

Oldroyd explained that the cut sequence featured Eileen taking laxatives in church, rushing home and having diarrhoea.

“When we got to shoot the movie, there were just not enough days in our schedule to shoot everything we had in the script, and we had to make some cuts. I would’ve loved to have shot that sequence, but in the end, it wasn’t detrimental to the movie overall for me,” Oldroyd explained.

While McKenzie was glad that sequence was cut, she felt both nervous and excited about filming some of Eileen’s other unusual habits.

“There’s some things you don’t want to be known for. I don’t want to be known as the actor who shoves snow down her pants to quell her desire. You get it,” she stated. “(But) I was excited to take them on. As actors, we have to do a lot of things that scare us, but oftentimes, those things lead to the better performances because the fear opens you up and allows you to be vulnerable and more honest with the camera.”

Eileen is in cinemas now.

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