Naughty knight as Penelope Cruz strips for steamy scenes with Sir Ben Kingsley

Spanish actress Penelope Cruz is setting pulses racing with her steamy new film, Elegy.

The Oscar-nominated star strips off for a topless scene in the movie, which is based on Philip Roth's short novel The Dying Animal.

She appears alongside Sir Ben Kingsley, who plays a charismatic professor who loses his composure when he falls in love with a student half his age.

Seductress: Penelope Cruz and Sir Ben Kingsley in Elegy

The star is no stranger to nudity - she has gone topless in more than eight films, including the Italian release Don't Move.

She admits her hairdresser mother, Encarna, and merchant father, Eduardo, aren't thrilled at her nude scenes.

She has said previously: "Going topless is not my favourite thing. It's a little tough for my parents."

The film, which also stars Debbie Harry, Dennis Hopper and Patricia Clarkson, is expected to be be released is the UK next month.

Meanwhile, Penelope, who counts Tom Cruz and Matthew McConaughey as former boyfriends, is said to becoming increasingly serious about her current beau, No Country For Old Men star Javier Bardem.

The pair began dating quietly last year and now his mother Pilar is said to be encouraging her son to make the relationship official.

A source was reported as saying: “Pilar took her son aside and told him, 'What's the matter with you? She's perfect! You love her, she loves you. Get married.'”

Naked ambition: the actress plays love interest Consuela Castillo