Kate Beckinsale says "ass-kicking" roles aren't in her nature.

The actress found the physical scenes in Underworld tough when she first took on the role of vampire warrior Selene.

The 38-year-old also revealed that her new movie Contraband pushed her even further out of her comfort zone.

"It's not really in my nature to do all this ass-kicking. When I first started training for Underworld they were like: 'She can't even f**king run!' And I couldn't," she told UK magazine Women's Health.

"I got more bruises on Contraband than in all the Underworlds put together. It was like, 'Let's not choreograph the fight, let's just see what happens.' And all of a sudden Giovanni [Ribisi, co-star] comes flying into my house and beats the s**t out of me."

Beckinsale also admitted that filming sex scenes in front of her director husband Len Wiseman is difficult.

The mother-of-one stars alongside Irish hunk Colin Farrell in the upcoming remake of sci-fi classic Total Recall and gets steamy with her co-star.

But she had nothing but praise for Farrell, and thoroughly enjoyed working with him.

"I think it was worse for Colin. It's awkward if you have to fondle the director's wife. Especially with Len saying, 'All right, that's it, you're fired'," she laughed.

"He's lovely. He's such a good actor, really professional and a brilliant dad. There's nothing bad you can say about Colin - and he's funny as well. I hate him!"