The Good Wife actor Alan Cumming has revealed he googles naked pictures of his co-stars before doing a sex scene with them.

The Scottish star, 52, plays spin doctor Eli Gold in the popular US series.

Talking on Graham Norton’s show – where he appears as a guest alongside Nicole Kidman – Cumming said of preparing for roles: “I Google naked pictures of people before I meet them.

Nicole Kidman and Alan Cumming on The Graham Norton Show  (Isabel Infantes/PA)
Nicole Kidman and Alan Cumming on The Graham Norton Show (Isabel Infantes/PA)

“If I am going to do sex scenes with them I need a little heads-up. If it is out there you might as well take a look!”

Cumming, married to husband Grant Shaffer and bisexual, said he asked for a sex scene to be written into The Good Wife.

“My character was very uptight because he hadn’t had sex for so long,” he said.

Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban, Graham Norton, Alan Cumming and Sheryl Crow filming The Graham Norton Show (Isabel Infantes/PA)
Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban, Graham Norton, Alan Cumming and Sheryl Crow filming The Graham Norton Show (Isabel Infantes/PA)

“I said to the writers, ‘I think I am quite a good actor but I am finding it hard to play someone who hasn’t had sex for three years and I want some action!’

“Five weeks later Eli’s ex-wife turned up and the relationship was re-kindled. I also had sex scenes with Amy Sedaris’s character – it was one of the funniest things I have had to do and she bit me! … She bit my finger!”

Friday’s Graham Norton Show also features Kidman and husband Keith Urban, and singer Sheryl Crow.

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban on The Graham Norton Show (Isabel Infantes/PA)
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban on The Graham Norton Show (Isabel Infantes/PA)

Kidman spoke about filming a bath scene with Colin Farrell in new film The Beguiled.

“I had to give him a sponge bath and it took about a day,” she said.

Asked whether the scene was awkward to film, the actress joked: “Can we move on? My husband is on the show!”

Kidman said of getting together with her husband: “He didn’t call me, not for four months. But he says different.” To which Urban admitted: “I was scared!”

:: The Graham Norton Show airs on BBC1 at 10.40pm on Friday.