Mirren was in 'National Treasure' for fun

Dame Helen Mirren has revealed that she joined the cast of National Treasure: Book of Secrets because she wanted to have "fun".

The screen veteran starred alongside Nicolas Cage, Sean Bean and Diane Kruger in the big-budget movie.

Mirren said: "I’m not talking about career move, I’m just talking about my personal pleasure, my personal fun. I wanted to be in a sort of ensemble piece, I didn’t want to be the star of the piece, and I’ve never been in a big, big, big budget movie before.

"It was wonderful to participate in something like that where there is enough money to do what you want to do.

"Most movies that I’m in, the budgetary considerations are so tight, you have to work so fast, you have to make such compromises all the time, it was great to be in something where that wasn’t an issue."