How Damian Hurley Came to Understand Grief and Denial After Suicides of a Friend and Father Steve Bing (Exclusive)

The up-and-coming filmmaker is the son of actress Elizabeth Hurley and late movie producer Bing

In Damian Hurley’s new thriller Strictly Confidential, a young woman drowns near her family home in the Caribbean, and her loved ones struggle to come to terms with the tragedy.

The idea for the film came to Damian — the son of British model-actress Elizabeth Hurley and the late American film producer Steve Bing — in the aftermath of losing a friend to suicide.

“For me and most of my friends it was really the first big personal loss we’d ever known,” says Damian.

“And I was really moved by seeing some of my friends who had this very strange reaction that I couldn’t really understand at the time,” he continues. “They just refused to accept that it happened at all.”

Related: Elizabeth Hurley and Son Damian's 'Twin-Like' Bond Made Working on Their New Thriller 'Phenomenal' (Exclusive)

A year later in 2020, Bing also died by suicide in California.

Elizabeth welcomed Damian in 2002 after her 18-month relationship with Bing had ended. Bing initially doubted his paternity, but a DNA test determined he was indeed the father, as Elizabeth insisted in family court proceedings.

The Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery star raised Damian in the U.K. and Australia, and Damian refers to his mother as a “single parent.”

Elizabeth told The Times in 2022 that her son “didn’t know [Bing] as a person,” and yet his death led the young filmmaker to grapple with grief and denial, two themes of his movie.

“My own biological father took his own life, and suddenly I understood those few people incredibly well,” Damian continues, referring to his grieving friends.

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Asked if he felt a connection to his filmmaker father while working on the movie, Damian demurs. “I didn’t really have any time to sit and reflect and think about anything,” he says. “I was chasing costume trunks.”

After Bing’s death in 2020, Damian posted on Instagram and expressed gratitude to those who sent condolences.

Related: Elizabeth Hurley Sizzles in Son Damian Hurley's First Movie Strictly Confidential: Watch the Trailer (Exclusive)

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone that has reached out following the devastating news," he wrote.  "I’m trying to reply to as many of you as I can, but please know I will always remember your kindness. This is a very strange and confusing time and I’m immensely grateful to be surrounded by my phenomenal family and friends.”

In her own note on social media at the time, Elizabeth wrote, "I am saddened beyond belief that my ex Steve is no longer with us. It is a terrible end.”

"In the past year, we had become close again,” she continued. “We last spoke on our son’s 18th birthday. This is devastating news and I thank everyone for their lovely messages."

For more on Elizabeth Hurley and Damian, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE.

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