Posted by Adam

Friday December 3, 2010

SEXY British actress Helen Mirren has accused Hollywood of being sexist and ageist — because there’s a distinct lack of roles for older women.

The RED star made her comments while promoting her new film The Last Station, in Russia, earlier this week.

The Oscar-winner plays the wife of Leo Tolstoy, in a biopic of the great Russian writer.

The historical drama tells the story about the elderly Tolstoy, played by Christopher Plummer, and his struggle with fame and wealth alongside his commitment to a life without material belongings.

Directed by Michael Hoffman, the movie takes the actress back to her roots. Her father was of Russian origin and she spent some of her childhood in the country.

Mirren recently poured scorn on British comedy — branding it “angry” and “cruel”.

“I’m under the impression that this notion is disappearing from our society,” the RED star told France’s Paris Match magazine.

“Where conflicts are made worse on cinema and on television, where people are nasty and cruel on the internet and where, in general terms, everybody seems to me to be very angry. This causes me a lot of pain.

“I prefer the finesse of French humor. English humor is harsher, more scathing, more cruel and more surreal too, as illustrated by Monty Python and the TV series Little Britain, where situations are far-fetched and over-the-top.

“I smoked Gitanes to appear cool, and I dreamed of being French. I wanted to be an elegant bourgeoisie or an artist just like Juliette Greco.

“From the age of 15, I desperately wanted to be Brigitte Bardot and to go and live in St Tropez. But I was just a small and plump English girl with spots. Then I had a French boyfriend called Jean-Louis with whom I’m still friends.”

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