Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal thinks sex scenes are "so interesting" but admits they can be "uncomfortable" to shoot.

The "Honourable Woman" actress, who has daughters Ramona, eight, and Gloria, three, with husband Peter Sarsgaard, says she is fascinated by seeing intimate moments played out on film.

"I think sex in film is so interesting. It's uncomfortable to take your clothes off in front of people you don't know, but it can be an opportunity for really interesting acting. I'm 37, and I've had two babies, and I'm really interested in nudity now," she told hollywoodreporter.com.

Gyllenhaal was happy to shoot sex scenes for "The Honorable Woman" because she wanted to give a realistic view of a woman's body, but admits she wasn't allowed to make the footage as "animal" as she wanted.

She said: "I was never the actress asked to be the hot girl who took her clothes off on her first day of work. I was never objectified that way. But in 'The Honourable Woman', my character Nessa is so controlled, I wanted the sex to be animal. Unfortunately, it was the BBC and so it couldn't be totally animal.

"Also, I wanted to show what a woman my age actually really looks like. I am much more turned on when I see people's bodies that look like bodies I recognise."