New Delhi:
Dame Helen Mirren was terrified about playing Queen Elizabeth.
The actress, who was awarded a Best Actress Oscar in 2006 for her role as the monarch in The Queen, claimed that she was "very, very nervous" about taking on the iconic role.
Helen told HELLO! magazine: "She's an icon all over the world. Everybody knows what she looks and sounds like. I knew I had to get those things right, but I wanted to go beyond a simple impersonation. So yes, I was very, very nervous."
Helen, 66 - who has received high praise for her roles in Calendar Girls, Gosford Park and The Madness of King George - has also confessed that the death of Princess Diana depicted in the film must have been very difficult for the Royal family.
She said: "What business was it of mine? I can see they would have been conflicted, though, because as far as the Royal family were concerned, Diana had presented a succession of difficult scenarios. And then her untimely death turned her into a martyr. So it must have been hard."
It seems Queen herself was happy with Helen's performance.
Helen MIrren joked: "She's never publically commented on it, but I know she didn't absolutely hate it because I have subsequently been invited to tea at Buckingham Palace."
Helen Mirren is currently filming biopic Hitchcock alongside Anthony Hopkins and Scarlett Johansson.
The actress, who was awarded a Best Actress Oscar in 2006 for her role as the monarch in The Queen, claimed that she was "very, very nervous" about taking on the iconic role.
Helen told HELLO! magazine: "She's an icon all over the world. Everybody knows what she looks and sounds like. I knew I had to get those things right, but I wanted to go beyond a simple impersonation. So yes, I was very, very nervous."
Helen, 66 - who has received high praise for her roles in Calendar Girls, Gosford Park and The Madness of King George - has also confessed that the death of Princess Diana depicted in the film must have been very difficult for the Royal family.
She said: "What business was it of mine? I can see they would have been conflicted, though, because as far as the Royal family were concerned, Diana had presented a succession of difficult scenarios. And then her untimely death turned her into a martyr. So it must have been hard."
It seems Queen herself was happy with Helen's performance.
Helen MIrren joked: "She's never publically commented on it, but I know she didn't absolutely hate it because I have subsequently been invited to tea at Buckingham Palace."
Helen Mirren is currently filming biopic Hitchcock alongside Anthony Hopkins and Scarlett Johansson.
