Meg bares all for new role

Actress Meg Ryan strips off for a steamy sex scene in a new film set to shatter her wholesome image.

The actress, dubbed America’s sweetheart for her romantic comedies When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless In Seattle, appears naked beside co-star Mark Ruffalo for the erotic thriller In the Cut.

Ryan, 41, plays a teacher who is attracted to a kinky detective hunting a serial killer in Manhattan.

She said the lovemaking scenes were well choreographed but very hard work.

“They were not fun at all to shoot, though Mark and I did laugh a lot,” she told the New York Post.

“But there are some things in the movie that were much more difficult than the sex scenes, like playing a character who doesn’t talk much, which is something new for me.”

Jennifer Jason Leigh, who plays Ryan’s sister in the film, said she was “jaw droppingly good” in the lovemaking scenes.

“I think it was actually kind of easy for her. It just wasn’t asked of her before.”

In the Cut premiered this week at the Toronto Film Festival. It was directed by Jane Campion, the New Zealand filmmaker best known for her Oscar-nominated drama The Piano.