Natalie Portman: Sex Scene Talk With Ashton Kutcher

Think the sex scenes in 'No Strings Attached' are awkward on the big screen? The way the stars tell it, it was perhaps even more awkward to film them.

At a press conference on Wednesday in Los Angeles, Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher discussed, among other things, the sex scenes in their upcoming romantic comedy, "No Strings Attached,' including their first, slightly uncomfortable-to-make love sequence. Turns out both were a bit embarrassed.

Even if they were playing "sex friends" with no emotional commitment -- until, you know, the romance -- it wasn't that easy on screen.

For Kutcher, it was understandably hard giving up male pride -- even when director Ivan Reitman asked him to do so.

"Ivan comes back in and is like, 'I think you need to orgasm sooner,'" Kutcher revealed to the press (via ComingSoon.net... ironically). "Your male machismo is like, no, no, it would take me much longer than this!"

But he at least had some ground rules -- and some smooth lines.

"I just start by apologizing. It's like... you sort of try to set some ground rules and apologize for like... I always use Sir Laurence. When in doubt, use Sir Laurence Olivier. I think he said something to the effect of, 'I apologize if I get aroused and I apologized if I do not get aroused.'"

That said, Kutcher felt the best way to go about things was just to act cool and casual between takes, almost as if nothing ever happened. Portman said the same -- they often talked about weekend plans or something else benign between shots.

That didn't mean Portman didn't also have her share of embarrassment -- though, with the help of a humble Kutcher, she overcame it pretty quickly.

"I'm pretty immature, so I get pretty embarrassed still. I would like, check out once in a while, certain shots to make sure I felt okay," the star confessed. "Because sometimes once you see it, like, there was one of the panties coming off that we did, and after I watched it I was like, oh that's not bad, because it was really quick."

Earlier in January, Kutcher talked about the sex scenes, conveying a similar point: to him, it was a bit "funny" to do, which probably helped break the ice.

For so much more from the press conference, including the stars' takes on relationships, acting and their characters, click over to ComingSoon.net.