The actress Kate Mulgrew has said she was duped into narrating a controversial documentary which claims the Earth is the centre of the Universe.

The Star Trek Voyager and Orange is the New Black star said she had been "misinformed" before lending her voice to the upcoming film The Principle.

The film, which describes itself as "destined to become one of the most controversial films of our time", argues the long-debunked theory of geocentrism – where the Earth is the centre of the Universe and the Sun resolves around it – is true and Nasa has tried to cover it up.

On the trailer for the film, due to be released later this year, Mulgrew's voice can be heard saying, "Everything we think we know about our universe is wrong".

Following confusion as to why Mulgrew, a life-long Democrat, chose to narrate the film scientists have described as "garbage", the actress posted a statement on her Facebook page denying she was a geocentrist or "in any way a proponent of geocentrism".

"I apologise for any confusion that my voice on this trailer may have caused" she added.

Three prominent scientists who appear in The Principle have also distanced themselves from the film.

Physicist and cosmologist Dr Lawrence Krauss accused the filmmakers of manipulating clips of him for their agenda.

For all who asked: Some clips of me apparently were mined for movie on geocentricism. So stupid does disservice to word nonsense. Ignore it. — Lawrence Krauss (@LKrauss1) April 8, 2014

He wrote in the Slate: "I have no recollection of being interviewed for such a film, and of course had I known of its premise I would have refused."

Dr Max Tegmark, a cosmologist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said he was misled into appearing in the film.

"I was told that this would be a science documentary by independent filmmakers who wanted to increase public appreciation for science. I should clearly have asked for more details in advance. These geocentric arguments are about as unscientific as things get" he told ThinkProgress.

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Dr George Ellis, of the University of Capetown in South Africa, added the film was "not presented" as geocentrism to him.

As well as its subject-matter, the film's producer Robert Sungenis, has also been the subject of controversy.

Sungenis, an author who runs the blog Galileo Was Wrong, has said in the past that nobody can prove six million Jews died during the Holocaust and there is a conspiracy between the Jewish people and Satan to rule the world.

During the trailer for The Principle, it is Sungenis who claims: "You can go on some websites of Nasa to see that they've started to take down stuff that might hint at a geocentric universe."

The three scientists and Mulgrew also said how they would not have appeared in the film had they known Sungenis was backing it.

Mulgrew said: "I do not subscribe to anything Robert Sungenis has written regarding science and history and, had I known of his involvement, would most certainly have avoided this documentary. I was a voice for hire, and a misinformed one."