Kristin Scott Thomas says the key to a good sex scene is "courage and choreography".

The 49-year-old actress had to shoot an erotic scene for French film 'Partir' - in which she plays a frustrated housewife who embarks on an affair with a former prisoner - and claims she approaches sexual sequences in the same way as an action shot.

Kristin - who was born and raised in Britain but also has French citizenship - said: "You need courage for it. But in the end professionalism is all that counts, no matter if it's a sex scene or a fight scene. It's all about choreography. The director and the cameras dictate what and how you have to act. Just like they instruct you how to make a blow look like it hurts during a fight scene."

Despite her sex scene confidence, the screen beauty admits it can be daunting to derobe in front of a mostly male cast and crew.

Kristin - whose is most famous for her roles in 'Four Weddings and a Funeral', 'The English Patient' and 'Bitter Moon' - added to website Spiegel Online: "The only difference is, that you're acting without your clothes on. That can be quite humiliating when everyone else on set is dressed. It was different when we shot 'Partir' though, because there was only one man among the three people who were present.

"Even if I disappoint people's fantasies, that's exactly how it is."