LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Helen Mirren helps stir the pot in the food-filled film "The Hundred Foot Journey," based on the best-selling novel of the same name.
The story plays out in a lovely village in the south of France, with Mirren playing the very prim and proper owner of a fancy French restaurant. The purveyor of all things haute cuisine becomes agitated when a family-run Indian restaurant opens up directly across the street.
"I love buttoned up characters," said the Oscar-winning actress. "I love the volcano under the surface."
Mirren also loved the chance to get to play a Frenchwoman because she actually speaks the language. The only problem, in Mirren's eyes, was LOOKING the part.
"I just don't look French," said Mirren. "You see these chic French women and then you go, 'how do you do it?' And then you go and buy the sweater you think is going to make you into a French woman. And it never works."
She credits the film's costume designer for pulling together just the right look. "He put me in them, said, 'no no no no... you wear this bracelet, with this ring and then you put this on.' And I put it all on and I looked in the mirror and I looked like a French woman! I can't believe it! I looked like a chic French woman!"
In this summer of big budget, special effects-filled films, "The Hundred Foot Journey" offers to cleanse the palate. And Mirren hopes it will inspire people after they leave the theater... to eat!
"I really want people not to eat before the movie, not to eat anything during the movie, and then go out for dinner after the movie. And that would be a sort of great evening, I think," Mirren said.
"The Hundred Foot Journey" is rated PG and is in theaters Friday, August 8.