The Legend of Tarzan deleted a scene that may have added another level of complexity to a character in the reboot — but director David Yates says test audiences were too "perplexed" by it.

In an interview with London's The Times, Yates says that although the film centers around the romance between Alexander Skarsgard's Tarzan and Margot Robbie's Jane, a cut scene shows Captain Leon Rom — a Belgian soldier out to bring down Tarzan in exchange for diamonds, played by Christoph Waltz — kissing an unconscious Tarzan.

"We pared it back because it was almost too much. It was this really odd, odd moment when Christoph kisses him," Yates said (quotes via the Mirror). "We loved it at the time. But early test audiences were perplexed by it and in the end it just felt too clever and overworked."

Captain Rom reportedly tells Jane following the kiss you'll never see, "Your husband’s wildness disturbs me more than I can even express," suggesting deeper layers to his fixation on Tarzan beyond "Belgium wants dem diamonds."

But the director would prefer that when it comes to Tarzan talk, you forget the nonconsensual and focus on the "sensual." Gross! That word is the worst, but it's evidently the only way to describe Skarsgard and Robbie's love scenes in addition to "primal" (gross again!):

"I liked the idea that they could have great sex, and that it could get quite primal," Yates said of the filmed sex scenes, which ended up leaving more to the imagination in the editing room.

"The cut we ended up with was more muted, and more sensual instead, even though we did touch upon those primal desires."

Skarsgard confirmed that he and Robbie got a directive to be sensual (ew) and primal (ew!) while shooting the sex scene, elaborating in remarks on an Australian TV show.

"There’s a love scene where John and Jane return to the jungle and reconnect with the Kuba village, the people that Jane grew up with," the Swedish actor said. "And that night it’s kind of the first big love scene of the movie, and David Yates our director wanted it to be primal."

"He kept egging Margot on. 'Hit him scratch him, beat him!'" Very ~~sensual~~.

The Legend of Tarzan is the No. 2 movie in America this week, pulling over $20 million while The Secret Life of Pets debuted above it with $103.2 million in ticket sales. Despite middling reviews and the fact that overall summer box office returns are down 44% from last year according to Box Office MojoTarzan has performed decently, though it's still nearly $100 million short of earning its budget back.

Did you see Tarzan? Was it because you love the story, or did you just miss Alexander Skarsgard's shirtless days on True Blood? Curious to see the deleted scene? Let us know in the comments.

30 Actors Share What Filming Sex Scenes Is Really Like

Podcast Chat: Why Is No One Going to the Movies This Summer?

More From