Mirren's anti-monarchist upbringing

Sep 1, 2006, 13:48 GMT

Actress Helen Mirren says it was "wonderful" to play Britain's Queen Elizabeth II - despite coming from an anti-monarchist background.

The 61-year-old British star plays the current monarch in a Stephen Frears' new film 'The Queen', documenting the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana in 1997.

Mirren, 61, said: "I was brought up in an anti-monarchist household.

"My parents were socialists and disapproved of the idea of class or monarchy. Being of their era, where the class structure was so oppressive, they had good reason. But I suspect if they were alive now, they'd take a more benign view."

Mirren - who recently won an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I in television series 'Elizabeth I' - began acting in the 1960s and was renowned for her radical and bohemian attitude. But she says she would still have liked to play the queen even then.

She told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper: "I'd have been up for playing the queen then, at the age I was - because it's a wonderful acting role. I'd certainly never have said, 'Oh no, I'm not playing her.'"

The actress, who wore a wig and makeup for the part, said it helped that she already looks a bit like the queen as they both have a natural downturn of the mouth.

Mirren said: "I do look a bit like her, you know."

(C) BANG Media International