What does Reese Witherspoon's daughter think of her Wild scenes?

The Oscar-winning actress admitted she had a conversation with her 15-year-old daughter, Ava, about the sex and drug-taking scenes in the big-screen adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s memoirs.

“I had to explain it to her, because people are starting to talk,” she said. “I said, ‘Ava, I’ve got to tell you something… I’m naked in the movie!’

“She was like, ‘Mum that’s so weird!’ And I said, ‘I had to be brave, and couldn’t just tell the parts I was comfortable with, because Cheryl was brave enough to tell her whole story, so I had to tell the parts that I was scared to do’. But she’s very proud of me.”

Reese has already received Golden Globe and Bafta nominations for her portrayal of Cheryl, who numbed the pain of her mother’s death through promiscuity and drugs, until she sought to find her path again by walking 1,100 miles of America’s West Coast on the Pacific Crest Trail.

The 38-year-old mother-of-three, who also co-produced the film, admitted she didn’t set out to star in the lead role.

“I didn’t know if I was capable of it,” she said. “I was terrified of this movie before I started. I tried everything to get out of it but Jean-Marc [Vallee, director] and Bruno [Papandrea, producer] wouldn’t let me.”

And although she considers herself “outdoorsy”, nothing could prepare her for the physical challenges of the shoot.

Reese said: “There was climbing up the side of a mountain and balancing on river crossings, and marching through chest-deep snow and falling into a freezing river… I had no idea it was going to be as hard as it truly was.

“Jean-Marc really didn’t want me to be prepared, or go hiking or be in good shape. And he never let me see the tent beforehand. I couldn’t work it out. He must’ve filmed me for two or three hours, so when you see me swearing, that was for real!”

:: Wild is in cinemas now.