Undisputed great Dame of the big screen.

Byline: Marianne Gray

Undisputed great Dame of the big screen The script of Arthur ticked a lot of boxes for the comedy-loving and decidedly un-grumpy Helen Mirren, writes THE director of Arthur, the remake of the 1981 film of the same name, tells a nice story about Dame Helen Mirren. After he had cast her in the film she invited him to tea at her house in Los Angeles. Being a true Angelino he was unversed in English tea etiquette and asked his agent and everyone he knew what he would be expected to do. Nobody could help him. Eventually he went online to a tea etiquette site such a thing exists to discover how to stir tea (not round and round but up and down), what to do with the milk and other formalities.

& When the appointed day came I put on a suit and tie,& says Jason Winer, who also directs the hit TV series Modern Family, & and arrived at her home in a state of nerves. Dame Helen came out of the house in jeans and a T-shirt and shrieked 'Oh my God, how old are you?' (Winer is 37 but looks …