New Idea
By Darren Lovell

She is one of Hollywood's sexiest screen sirens, and he is the new kid on the block, who's threatening to give Brad Pitt and Matt Damon a run for their money.

Together, Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes have turned the romantic comedy, Shakespeare in Love, into this year's raunchiest movie.

The chemistry between these two is nothing short of nuclear and is rumoured to have been a contributing factor in the break-up between Gwyneth and her ex-boyfriend Ben Affleck, who also stars in the movie.

The love scenes between the two actors were so hot that Joseph, who is the younger brother of that other smouldering British actor, Ralph, can't really recall them. "It was awkward because I am a very shy person and here I was working with this beautiful and gifted actor," Joseph says in a soft British accent.

"You know what? I can't even remember if I was naked or not during the love scenes!"

At 28, after making his dazzling debut in two of Hollywood's most talked about movies Shakespeare in Love and Elizabeth, where he gets to woo Australia's very own Cate Blanchett. Joseph is already gaining the sort of attention usually reserved for the likes of Brad Pitt. It seems women can't get enough of him, although Joseph doesn't know how to take his unexpected fame. "It's so strange. People now send me scripts, whereas before I had to ask for them," he says. And although he is in direct competition with brother Ralph for the sexiest Brit in Hollywood award, Joseph says there is no rivalry between himself and his brother. "I get asked that a lot and it's a fair enough question, but we get along just fine," he says.

He also gets along with Aussie actor Geoffrey Rush who might win his second Oscar for Shakespeare in Love. "He is one of the most brilliant and funniest actors I have ever worked with," Joseph says.

Like Joseph, Gwyneth also found the raunchy sex scenes in her latest film quite a challenge. "I wouldn't want my grandfather seeing it," she quipped to New Idea. She also told us that despite some reports, she did not use a body double. "And yes, they are my boobs - they're not computer-enhanced," she says with a smile. But what she did have enhanced, when she had to play a man in the film, was her groin. "The costume people stuffed a sock full of beans down my front so I'd walk like a boy," she says.