Jessica Brown Findlay performed a topless scene she regret. She exposed her chest to prove her age to buy cigarettes. It was for her very first film and she claims didn’t know any better.

Findlay was just 22 years old when she did the topless scene for the movie, Albatross, directed by Niall McCormick. She was playing the lead role of Emilia, an aspiring novelist new to town.

“To be honest, Albatross was naivete and not knowing that I could say no…I had no idea what was going to happen and thought I was going to be shot from behind. It’s not something I would do again,” she said in an interview with the Radio Times.

Findlay is best known for playing Lady Sybil Crawley on the hit TV show, Downton Abbey.

In the same interview, Findlay shared the reason on why she left Downtown Abbey despite its huge success.

She says, “Hollywood is not for me. I love acting, but I also love London.”

Her fear is that she’ll fall into a comfort zone with the show and since her contract was about to end, she decided it was time to go.

“I was unsure about signing away another year. Leaving terrified me, and that’s what made me want to do it,” she says.

Findlay is now prepared to take on whatever the next steps are for her career. A seeming adventurer at heart, the fear of the unknown excites her.

“Being afraid and going into the unknown excites me,” she said, “and what scared me more was to keep going and then one day discover it was all I could do and wish I had pushed myself more. I’d prefer to fail and fall flat on my face.”

Despite her openness to wherever her career may lead to, there’s one thing that Findlay seems to be sure of. Future nude scenes, in any way – semi or otherwise – will not be part of what she wants to do.

“I think if you’re going to do a nude scene, be honest and natural,” she shares. “Otherwise, I’d be starving myself for ever, which I just couldn’t do.”