Eva Mendes says she had to have a little drink to film a sex scene with her co-star in We Own the Night, Joaquin Phoenix. She normally doesn’t drink on the job, she says, but she was really nervous and a vodka and orange juice helped her get through the difficult job:

“I wasn’t comfortable at all,” she told reporters Friday at the Cannes press conference for We Own the Night, which contains a steamy sex scene – her first – with Joaquin Phoenix.

“They were very sweet and they poured me a vodka and orange juice and then I was fine,” she said.

“I’m very professional and I don’t usually drink on the job but that morning I had a little vodka and OJ,” she said, laughing.

Of the scene, Mendes, 33, said: “It was my first sex scene and thank God it was with [director] James Gray. Not that it was actually with James,” she said, correcting herself to much laughter. “He did it at the end of the shoot, so it was the last day and I was really, really comfortable with these clowns,” she said, indicating Phoenix and Gray.

Mendes aimed a little good-natured put-down at Phoenix during the press conference for their film at Cannes. He was said to be antsy and trying to smoke, and she said “It’s kind of like working with a puppy dog or a two-year-old. When you have its attention, it’s really cute, but otherwise…”

She tried to make up for afterwards by calling him “one of the greatest actors of my generation.”

Mendes and Phoenix were rumored to be dating while they were filming, but that was either untrue or short-lived. They appeared in Hitch together and were seen out to dinner while they were working on We Own the Night. Mendes said they needed something to eat that day, that she was still with her boyfriend and that the rumors were untrue.

Here are pictures of the We Own the Night photocall at Cannes. Also shown are Joaquin Pheonix, Robert Duvall and James Gray. Thanks to Photorazzi.