In "Wild," Reese Witherspoon pushed herself to the limit in order to bring author Cheryl Strayed's memoir to life -- including, apparently, revealing a part of her body that had never been naked onscreen before.

Thanks to an exclusive from People, a brand new clip from the movie is now available, along with an interview with Witherspoon in which she opened up about the challenges of going (gasp!) completely bare. And no, we're not talking about a steamy sex scene, although the actress did film some pretty graphic, gritty romps for her role in the film. Instead, the part of her body she was most terrified to debut nude on camera was... her face.

"I'm Southern," Witherspoon said. "I like some makeup! It wasn't easy."

Not easy, but definitely necessary: "Wild" takes place largely on the remote reaches of the Pacific Coast Trail, where lipstick would have been in short supply. But with the movie already generating Oscar buzz for its lead actress, letting her epidermis show was a small price to pay for the possibility of dominating come awards season.

"Wild" releases in theaters December 5.