Eva Mendes can’t help but cringe when it comes to filming steamy sex scenes, for she once wanted to be a nun.

The sexy Latina broke down in tears while filming an on-screen romp with Joaquin Phoenix in their new movie ‘We Own the Night’, and admits that her reaction has a lot to do with the fact that she almost entered the nunnery.

"I did very much want to be a nun when I was younger. I guess there is this little Catholic girl still inside me somewhere because otherwise I would probably have had no problem with that scene," Contactmusic quoted her, as saying.

However, she’s determined to get a hang on her behaviour, which is a bit bizarre in the industry she’s a part of.

"It's something I just have to deal with," she says.

And, Eva found the scene so difficult to film that she turned to booze to get through it.

"I'm very professional and I don't usually drink on the job, but that morning I had to have something," she said.

‘We Own The Night’ recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.