Actor Geoffrey Rush has denied he was throwing out an invitation and testing the waters when he told a former co-star he was thinking about her "more than socially appropriate".

Rush was questioned in Sydney's Federal Court on Tuesday about a message he sent Eryn Jean Norvill in June 2016 that included the comment followed by an emoji with its tongue hanging out.

Rush denied suggestions by barrister Tom Blackburn SC that he was throwing out an invitation to Norvill, that he habitually thought of her more than socially appropriate and that he intended with the message to tell her he was attracted to her.

"It's a throwaway line, it's actually a joke, I would say modestly in the style of Groucho Marx," the 67-year-old said.

He said he would have used a Groucho emoji if it was available to absolutely ensure it was "whimsy".

AAP

Rush was being cross-examined by Mr Blackburn at his defamation trial against the Daily Telegraph's publisher, Nationwide News, and journalist Jonathon Moran.

He's suing the Sydney tabloid and journalist over articles about an allegation he behaved inappropriately toward a co-star - later revealed to be Norvill - during a Sydney Theatre Company production of King Lear in 2015 and 2016.

Rush imagined own daughter died

The Oscar winner has denied the accusation and argues the newspaper made him out to be a pervert and sexual predator.

Earlier on Tuesday, he dabbed away tears after telling the court he imagined his own daughter had died to act out a scene in which he carried Norvill's body on stage and howled.

Norvill played Cordelia, the daughter of Rush's titular character, who in that scene was dead.

"I was imagining that it was my own real-life daughter and that she'd been hit by a bus on the street near where we live ... and I knew she was gone," an emotional Rush said.

"Every night I would reinvent that scene in my mind."

Nationwide News and Moran are pleading a defence of truth in the trial and Norvill - who didn't speak with Moran for the articles - has agreed to give evidence.

According to court documents, the defence alleges Rush traced his hand down her torso and across the side of her breast during a performance of the scene in which he carried her.

Rush is accused of touching Norvill's lower back under her shirt while they were backstage, simulating fondling and groping her breasts and making comments or jokes about her involving sexual innuendo.

Rush denied each of the allegations when they were put to him on Tuesday.

He said he was pretty aware of "moodscapes" within a group and there was "not a hint" that Norvill had a complaint during rehearsals.

"I never detected that I ... was making her uncomfortable or that I was ruffling feathers," he said.