It's known for its bloody violence and risqué sex scenes, so it's no surprise that the stars of Game of Thrones are all in favour of the show's X-rated content – so long as it serves the story.

Dutch actress Carice van Houten, who plays the enigmatic Red Priestess Melisandre, has defended the amount of bare flesh in the show and called for more male nudity in the HBO series.

Asked whether there should be more male nudity, she said: "Hell yeah! Of course it has to be functional and it mostly is. But in general that's what I like about the show, not the sex per se but the nudity is part of life."

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She added: "We can see machine guns but we can’t see f**king – sorry – people? I really don’t get, I have to make a point here. Who sleeps with their bra on? I mean, sorry if that’s a Dutch approach but I think we need to get used to it. It’s part of life."

Van Houten has shed her character’s flowing red robes on more than one occasion, most notably when Melisandre gave birth to a dark spirit in a cave. The actress wore little more than a bulging, prosthetic pregnant belly while going into labour.

In another scene that played out like a medieval version of 50 Shades of Grey, Melisandre bared all to seduce a young man before chaining him to bed and sticking leeches on him.

Van Houten has appeared naked in other projects including Dutch film The Happy Housewife, and while she is all for it, she said that the prospect of doing a nude scene makes her "nervous" and she tries to alleviate the tension on set in a novel way.

"I'd rather just show everyone this is the material, like very plain and clean. This is the body, your mother has them, let’s not make a big fuss out of them and then they get used to it. I don’t do it for them, I do it for me because I pick up on tension in the room and I just want people to be fine with it."

Shape Created with Sketch. Game of Thrones season four in pictures Show all 36 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Game of Thrones season four in pictures 1/36 Game of Thrones Steward serving on The Wall and fan favourite Jon Snow HBO 2/36 Game of Thrones Arya continues on her journey through the North HBO 3/36 Game of Thrones After so long in King's Landing, Sansa sees snow falling at the Eyrie in the Vale, it reminds her of Winterfell HBO 4/36 Game of Thrones Daenerys looks contemplative as she walks down the steps of a pyramid in Meereen HBo 5/36 Game of Thrones Arya and the Hound meet an unwelcome visitor HBO 6/36 Game of Thrones Meera Reed, Bran and Hodor walk through the snow to find the three-eyed crow HBO 7/36 Game of Thrones Daenerys looks at a map as she considers her next move HBO 8/36 Game of Thrones Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne continue on their quest to find Sansa HBO 9/36 Game of Thrones Sam Tarly attempts to rally the men of the Night's Watch HBO 10/36 Game of Thrones Daenerys and Missandei survey the troops HBO 11/36 Game of Thrones The Wildlings get ready to attack HBO 12/36 Game of Thrones Jon Snow trains for battle against the wildings at Castle Black HBO 13/36 Game of Thrones Cersei watches over Tyrion's trial HBO 14/36 Game of Thrones A vulnerable family fall victim to the Hound HBO 15/36 Game of Thrones Mark Gatiss makes an appearance as Tycho Nestoris, an envoy of the Iron Bank of Braavos HBO 16/36 Game of Thrones Sophie Turner as the eldest Stark daughter Sansa HBO 17/36 Game of Thrones Jaime begs his father Tywin for mercy for his brother HBO 18/36 Game of Thrones Daenerys rules in Meereen from on high as she listens to man seeking recompense for his slaughtered cattle and another asking for the burial of his crucified father HBO 19/36 Game of Thrones Tyrion Lannister goes on trial for the murder of Joffrey as the nobles of Westeros watch HBO 20/36 Game of Thrones Maisie Williams as Arya Stark in 'The First of His Name' HBO 21/36 Game of Thrones Emilia Clarke as Danerys, the Mother of Dragons HBO 22/36 Game of Thrones Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon and Natalie Dormer as Margaery Tyrell HBO 23/36 Game of Thrones The 'Purple Wedding' shocked fans this month HBO 24/36 Game of Thrones Daario will be a new arrival in season 4 HBO 25/36 Game of Thrones The Hound strides the fields in heavy armour HBO 26/36 Game of Thrones King Joffrey and his smirk of contempt are back HBO 27/36 Game of Thrones Sansa and Tyrion have a heart-to-heart Channel 4 28/36 Game of Thrones Ygritte and Tormund prepare for battle HBO 29/36 Game of Thrones Tywin wearing the Hand of the King brooch HBO 30/36 Game of Thrones Margaery and Olenna in the courtyard HBO 31/36 Game of Thrones Sam, a steward of the Night's Watch HBO 32/36 Game of Thrones Arya remains under the watch of the The Hound HBO 33/36 Game of Thrones Jaime and Cersai in heated discussions HBO 34/36 Game of Thrones Oberyn with Ellaria, mother of the four youngest Sand Snakes HBO 35/36 Game of Thrones Tyrion and Shae have words HBO 36/36 Game of Thrones Season 4 HBO 1/36 Game of Thrones Steward serving on The Wall and fan favourite Jon Snow HBO 2/36 Game of Thrones Arya continues on her journey through the North HBO 3/36 Game of Thrones After so long in King's Landing, Sansa sees snow falling at the Eyrie in the Vale, it reminds her of Winterfell HBO 4/36 Game of Thrones Daenerys looks contemplative as she walks down the steps of a pyramid in Meereen HBo 5/36 Game of Thrones Arya and the Hound meet an unwelcome visitor HBO 6/36 Game of Thrones Meera Reed, Bran and Hodor walk through the snow to find the three-eyed crow HBO 7/36 Game of Thrones Daenerys looks at a map as she considers her next move HBO 8/36 Game of Thrones Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne continue on their quest to find Sansa HBO 9/36 Game of Thrones Sam Tarly attempts to rally the men of the Night's Watch HBO 10/36 Game of Thrones Daenerys and Missandei survey the troops HBO 11/36 Game of Thrones The Wildlings get ready to attack HBO 12/36 Game of Thrones Jon Snow trains for battle against the wildings at Castle Black HBO 13/36 Game of Thrones Cersei watches over Tyrion's trial HBO 14/36 Game of Thrones A vulnerable family fall victim to the Hound HBO 15/36 Game of Thrones Mark Gatiss makes an appearance as Tycho Nestoris, an envoy of the Iron Bank of Braavos HBO 16/36 Game of Thrones Sophie Turner as the eldest Stark daughter Sansa HBO 17/36 Game of Thrones Jaime begs his father Tywin for mercy for his brother HBO 18/36 Game of Thrones Daenerys rules in Meereen from on high as she listens to man seeking recompense for his slaughtered cattle and another asking for the burial of his crucified father HBO 19/36 Game of Thrones Tyrion Lannister goes on trial for the murder of Joffrey as the nobles of Westeros watch HBO 20/36 Game of Thrones Maisie Williams as Arya Stark in 'The First of His Name' HBO 21/36 Game of Thrones Emilia Clarke as Danerys, the Mother of Dragons HBO 22/36 Game of Thrones Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon and Natalie Dormer as Margaery Tyrell HBO 23/36 Game of Thrones The 'Purple Wedding' shocked fans this month HBO 24/36 Game of Thrones Daario will be a new arrival in season 4 HBO 25/36 Game of Thrones The Hound strides the fields in heavy armour HBO 26/36 Game of Thrones King Joffrey and his smirk of contempt are back HBO 27/36 Game of Thrones Sansa and Tyrion have a heart-to-heart Channel 4 28/36 Game of Thrones Ygritte and Tormund prepare for battle HBO 29/36 Game of Thrones Tywin wearing the Hand of the King brooch HBO 30/36 Game of Thrones Margaery and Olenna in the courtyard HBO 31/36 Game of Thrones Sam, a steward of the Night's Watch HBO 32/36 Game of Thrones Arya remains under the watch of the The Hound HBO 33/36 Game of Thrones Jaime and Cersai in heated discussions HBO 34/36 Game of Thrones Oberyn with Ellaria, mother of the four youngest Sand Snakes HBO 35/36 Game of Thrones Tyrion and Shae have words HBO 36/36 Game of Thrones Season 4 HBO

Co-star Liam Cunningham also defended the sex scenes in the show, arguing they were not demeaning to women because of the strength of the female characters.

Speaking at a press event in London, he said: "If there wasn't a hugely strong female character in this, like [Melisandre], then it would be sexist. It's just gratuitous. But some of the most dangerous characters in the show are women - there's Cersei. They are extraordinarily well-drawn."

Cunningham, who stars as Davos Seaworth in the medieval drama, has had dangerous dealings with the priestess and bore witness to the shadow baby. The pair have a tense relationship in the story and it is often a battle of wits with Melisandre usually getting the upper hand.

"I think there's a level of intelligence required by the viewer or whoever watching this and it doesn't patronise, it shows the dark side and the bright side of humanity in this.

"It's inclusive and it's not just the strong man and the women as the stay-at-home wife or she’s there to be the hostage. She's not functional. She's f**king dangerous in this show and has to be watched," he added with a laugh.

An extended preview for Season 4 was released yesterday on YouTube, giving fans a tantalising taste of what they can expect this year.

Entitled Ice and Fire: A Foreshadowing, members of the cast answered questions posed by fans on Twitter. Producer David Benioff shared some tit bits about the upcoming series, including the purple wedding, Daenerys’ growing dragons and Tyrion's ever-present threat of peril.

Speaking about her story strand in Season 4 van Houten said: "Stannis has a light season this year but we have a few meaty scenes. [...] Our storyline is going to move somewhere else and it's going to be interesting because it's going to collide with a world which we also know, and what's going to happen there."

Cunningham said: "One of the differences this year from reading the scripts is that, generally speaking, over the three seasons there's been a slow and gradual build up with magnificent stories up to the big episodes which is usually episode 9. It's not like that in this season. It's kicking off very early on, it's really dramatic and as opposed to the one big climax of the other season, there's going to be several. It's bigger, bolder, brassier - and I'm dying to see it as well".

The new season will be airing in April this year.

' Game of Thrones': The Complete Third Season is out on Blu-ray and DVD from HBO Home Entertainment from 17 February