Reese Witherspoon has joked how she lost an ovary – courtesy of her Hot Pursuit co-star Sofia Vergara.

The Oscar-winning actress and the Modern Family star were filming a fight scene for their new crime caper Hot Pursuit, in which Reese plays an inept police officer tasked with protecting the widow of a drug boss (Sofia), when things got a little heated.

Sofia Vergara and Reese Witherspoon in Hot Pursuit
Sofia Vergara and Reese Witherspoon in Hot Pursuit (Warner Bros)

“I only have one ovary now… Turns out you only need one,” Reese said.

Sofia explained: “I kept saying, ‘Are you sure this is OK?’ I was shoving her into the sofa, she was like, ‘Yeah, keep going’. Then I saw her face.”

But after spending a night in hospital for a “popped ovary”, Reese was back on set the next day – only to receive more injuries from the feisty Columbian actress during a comically awkward kissing scene.

“I read the script and didn’t really give it a thought. And then on the day, what I worried about was how to make it funny. Reece was up for everything. I started pulling her hair!” Sofia said, to which Reese replied: “I did NOT know she was going to pull my hair.”

Reese continued: “It hurt. I had whiplash for three days, my neck hurt, my husband [talent agent Jim Toth] said, ‘What happened to your neck?’

“I said, ‘Sofia was pulling my hair while we were making out’. He was like, ‘You shouldn’t be complaining!’”

Sofia Vergara and Reese Witherspoon
Sofia Vergara and Reese Witherspoon (Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP)

While the pair hadn’t worked together before, they soon discovered they shared common interests.

“We like a lot of the same things – family, make-up, clothes, we talk about men, relationships, and we’re loud and funny and make fun of each other,” Reese said.

Sofia said her co-star was like an honorary Latina: “It’s like I’m talking to one of my cousins. She dances very well to Latin music too.”

Hot Pursuit opens in cinemas today (July 31).