Lily James: I censor my romance so I don't fall prey to nude photo hackers

War and Peace actress Lily James has spoken out about the pressures on stars to "self-censor" their romances after hackers posted private photographs of naked celebrities online.

The 26-year-old's boyfriend, former Doctor Who star Matt Smith, was among those caught up in the 2014 scandal, when intimate images of him and his then-girlfriend Daisy Lowe were uploaded.

It is thought that almost 500 private photographs of various celebrities had been obtained through a breach of Apple's iCloud service. They were initially posted on the image board 4chan, before being disseminated across the internet. The FBI were called in to investigate.

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Celebrities who confirmed the photographs' authenticity also included Kate Upton and Kirsten Dunst.

Describing the incident as "terrifying and so unfair", James said that she, too, feared being caught by hackers.

"It makes you conscious of not doing… You shouldn't have to censor yourself in that way. I've begun to think like this and it's really sad," she told Town & Country magazine.

The Cinderella star also spoke of her admiration for fellow actress Jennifer Lawrence, who suffered a similar hack, which she condemned as a "sex crime".

James also praised Lawrence's feminist stance and spoke out about the gender pay gap, saying: "I realised really early on, especially because I'm young, that people will take advantage. I'm very open, and I stupidly thought that people would be open and fair with me, but they're not. I sort of found out the hard way."