Ageing action woman Helen Mirren

Jan 27, 2010, 10:11 GMT

Dame Helen Mirren thinks she's becoming a "geriatric" action star.

The British actress has noticed her roles have changed as she has got older, but she's keen to take on as many exciting parts as she can.

In her next film Helen can be seen playing a Mossad agent - the national intelligence agency of Israel - and she is about to start work on another action role.

She said: "I'm a retired special ops person in my next role. Actually, I just played a retired Mossad agent in a film called 'The Deck' which is coming out this year so yes, I'm becoming an action star... a geriatric action star!"

Helen plays countess Sofya, the wife of the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, in new romantic drama 'The Last Station' and she admits she is thrilled to still be working so much.

Speaking at the London premiere of the movie last night (26.01.10), she told BANG Showbiz: "I've been pretty lucky all my life - I've had some good roles. But I think that as you get older, if you manage to stay on being an actress, the roles by nature become more interesting because a person of 55, 65, or 45 is a more interesting person by nature because you've lived much longer than a person who is 15 or 25."

Helen also spoke of her joy at hearing that her co-star James McAvoy would soon be a father, after it was announced yesterday (26.01.10) his actress wife Anne-Marie Duff is expecting.

She said: "I'm very happy. Auntie Helen - yes I'm very happy. They couldn't be a nicer couple really. I mean I think it's fantastic because they are two genuinely great actors. And they are totally in love with each other, which is very clear during filming, they laughed at each other's jokes... so I think that will be a happy baby."

The 30-year-old Scottish star - who plays Valentin Bulgakov, Tolstoy's secretary in the movie - admitted he felt "psychedelic" about the news.

James said: "Excellent. I'm totally looking forward to being a dad. I don't care what we have."