Emmanuelle Beart: on acting, swimming, and being photographed naked at 41

'Sensuality and sexuality are very strong in this job. My body is an instrument for me to use'

Emmanuelle Beart, on being famously described as having the face of a virgin and the body of a whore, said in 'The Guardian' on Wednesday: "Acting is really not a cerebral profession. Sensuality and sexuality are very strong, very present in this job. My body is an instrument for me to use." She explained her naked pose at the age of 41 on the front of the biggest-selling Elle ever. "We'd just arrived for a beauty shoot, it was 5am, and I desperately needed a swim. The photographer was a friend, and she asked if I'd mind if she took a few photos. When I saw them, it was me who suggested they use those. It was a riposte to all those skinny, semi-anorexic adolescents that women's magazines inflict on us. It was to say, 'Look, I'm 40, this is my body, this is my plenitude, these are my curves, I like them and I'm proud of them.' It's true, I feel better in my body now than when I was 20. Why not?"