Dame Helen Mirren appeared on Lorraine this morning to preview her new film coming out this Friday, starring alongside Jim Broadbent and Matthew Goode.
The well-rounded actress spoke to Scottish host Lorraine Kelly this morning about her excitement when filming this movie, and how she was drawn in by the script of The Duke.
Helen said: "It is poignant, that was what was so lovely about the script, and it was a wonderful script - sometimes you read a script like The Duke and think ‘I have to do this’, as it’s such a beautiful piece of writing.
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“So all of the lovely wit was in the script, but also a thread of a tragedy that is running through this family, and so it is quite a multi-layered film.
"That’s what I loved about it, it's obviously a comedy, it is very funny and Jim is brilliant as always.
“But, it does have this real thread of the kind of tragedy that many families face.”
The film is relatively comedic, but does have many elements of sadness and how different people deal with loss and grief.
She added: "You can see it very often in marriages, the attraction of opposites and I think that in the Buntons' marriage, you do have these very different characters who do love each other and have a happy marriage.
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“But, they are very oppositional kinds of characters, and that plays out so beautifully in the film.
“This story wasn’t one I was aware of, it escaped me and it was in my time but I hadn’t heard of it.
"It is such a charming quintessentially British story I like to believe.”
“It’s a beautifully constructed film and I am hoping that it will become a beloved film for others as well as me, as it deserves it."
Helen almost made a sweary slip-up on the programme as well, much to her own amusement.
When discussing herself and Jim's involvement in the film, the phrase 'old folks' nearly turned into something else, to which Helen said: "I almost said something you're not allowed to say on British television!"
Lorraine laughed it off and told her "You can say and do whatever you want", to which Helen replied: "Oh, good!"
The Duke comes out in cinemas this Friday, and can be viewed in Glasgow at Everyman and Glasgow Film Theatre, as well as the usual cinemas of Vue and Cineworld.
