Actress Scarlett Johansson arrives at the Cinema Palace in Venice August 30, 2006. The Venice Film Festival opens on Wednesday with the world premiere of "The Black Dahlia", a sepia-tinted throwback to 1940s Hollywood based on a grisly real-life murder that remains unsolved to this day. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch (ITALY)

Scarlett Johansson has had to defend her own "sexiness" while holding a press conference to promote her new film The Black Dahlia.

The actress' new movie opened the Venice Film Festival, and includes steamy scenes between her and co-star Josh Hartnett.

When informed by a journalist that her sex appeal could prove a distraction from the film's plot, the 21-year-old was forced to reveal her feelings on the matter.

According to ITV News, she responded: "Of course it's nice to be considered sexy, as a young woman in my prime. But I try not to think about the sexiness. I never think about it being distracting from a scene."