Hollywood star Jennifer Connelly has revealed she wore an “embarrassing” hairpiece while shooting a nude scene in her latest film, American Pastoral.

The 45-year-old said she donned the pubic wig to mimic a more bouffant style to fit in with the film’s 1960s setting.

She stars alongside Ewan McGregor and Dakota Fanning in the Scottish actor’s directorial debut.

Labyrinth star Jennifer told The Times that she finds on-screen nudity “difficult” and hid in her trailer after the scene in which she wore the merkin.

She added: “In my new film, American Pastoral, there’s a scene where I’m naked and dancing around freely in a state by myself before I am committed.

“I felt exposed in a lot of ways. Because it is set in the Sixties, I had an enormous wig on my crotch, which was so embarrassing.

“I have never done anything like it before. After they shouted cut, I just hid in my trailer.”

In American Pastoral, Ewan plays a man whose life is torn apart when his teenage daughter is accused of an act of political terrorism in 1960s America.

The film is an adaptation of Philip Roth’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

Jennifer also spoke of her love for her husband, British actor and Avengers star Paul Bettany, whom she married in 2003 after meeting on the set of A Beautiful Mind two years previously.

She told the newspaper: “He talked politics, played guitar and sang. Not all at the same time.

“Towards the end of the movie we were on location in Princeton and a bunch of us were hanging out. Paul played and sang a Nick Cave song, and I looked at him and went, ‘Huh!’

“He is very witty, very gregarious and very social. He’s a funny guy and our kids have a good sense of humour because of him.”