Country star Dwight Yoakam is full of praise for his new movie lover, Melissa Leo, after she bared all for a sex scene with him.

The 45-year-old actress' character has an affair with Yoakam's corrupt cop in Tommy Lee Jones' new movie THE THREE BURIALS OF MALQUIADAS ESTRADA (corr), but while the singer got to keep his underwear on, she had to bare all.

Yoakam says, "It was brave of her. There is an artificial standard of beauty that is put forth, especially with regard to women not being allowed to age gracefully.

"They're not accepted as provocatively beautiful at a different stage of their life than when they were 22.

"I think you'd be surprised at how many men still find women provocative and beautiful in a sexual way even into their later years. It's certainly not marketed because the easier, most cliched marketing approach is to do love scenes with a kind of innocent beauty.

"At 20-years-old you have the face that nature gave you, at 30 you have the face that life gives you and, at 50, you have the face that you deserve. It's the same with bodies I guess."