Regé-Jean Page says he wasn't 'sufficiently prepared' to watch 'Bridgerton' sex scenes and found the experience 'overwhelming'

• Regé-Jean Page said he wasn't "sufficiently prepared" to watch himself in "Bridgerton" sex scenes.
• During a THR roundtable on Wednesday, the actor admitted he felt "overwhelmed" while watching.
• "I'm not sure how grateful I was to watch it for myself," Page said.

Regé-Jean Page admitted watching himself in "Bridgerton's" graphic sex scenes was more difficult than he expected during an actors' roundtable with The Hollywood Reporter published Wednesday.

On season one of the Netflix series, the 31-year-old played romantic lead Simon Basset opposite Phoebe Dynevor, who portrayed his eventual wife, Daphne Bridgerton.

While the show is set in early 19th century England, it diverts from the prim and proper Regency-era formula by featuring explicit, impassioned sex scenes between the two protagonists. And even though Page read the script and shot the scenes, he said viewing them as an audience member caught him by surprise.

"No one was sufficiently prepared. I wasn't sufficiently prepared and I was there," he told The Hollywood Reporter.

"I think people were grateful for the intensity of the romantic aspects of 'Bridgerton;' I'm not sure how grateful I was to watch it for myself. It was overwhelming," he continued. "But I think people were looking to be overwhelmed."

The "Roots" actor went on to say that his family also wasn't overly thrilled to see his "backside" on the small screen.

"They'll take it on this occasion because everyone seems to be terribly happy," he quipped.

"Bridgerton," a record-breaking series adapted by Shondaland from Julia Quinn's best-selling romance novels, has already been renewed through season four.

The show's forthcoming seasons will follow the sequence laid out in Quinn's books, which each focus on a different Bridgerton sibling's romantic pursuits. The sophomore season will shift the spotlight to Daphne's older brother Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and his love interest Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley).

As the Bridgerton family's story segues into a new chapter, the show's audience will say goodbye to breakout star Page, who announced he will not return for season two in early April.

The actor told Variety that his departure was always planned, pointing to the one-year contract he signed out of the gate.

"It's a one-season arc. It's going to have a beginning, middle, end - give us a year," Page recalled Shondaland producers telling him during his early casting conversations. "It felt like a limited series. I get to come in. I get to contribute my bit and then the Bridgerton family rolls on."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Page turned down an offer to guest star on three to five episodes of season two. Sources told the outlet that he declined the proposed deal, which reportedly included a paycheck of $50,000 per episode for a "multitude of reasons."

The NAACP Image Award winner has already lined up roles in a number of major projects, including Paramount's "Dungeons & Dragons" and Netflix's "The Gray Man."