Actress Mirren set to return to the stage

British actress Helen Mirren says her upcoming return to the theater does not necessarily represent a return to her favorite acting discipline.

The 64-year-old actress who will star in upcoming performances of Phedre with Washington’s Shakespeare Theatre Company admitted she tends to long for other acting opportunities while performing on stage, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

Not necessarily, Mirren told the Post. “I mean, all the different disciplines have their advantages and disadvantages, and it’s great to be able to move between them. But no, the stage isn’t where I long to be.

Especially when I’m doing it, she added, I wish I wasn’t doing it.

Yet producer Nicholas Hytner, who will collaborate with Mirren on Phedre, insists the upcoming stage performances by Mirren should reveal a side of the actress not seen in her TV and film roles.

For those who’ve only seen her on TV or film, who would think of her in the naturalistic tradition, they will find that she has available to her the grand manner. And I would see her great achievement in this role is to humanize this grand manner, Hytner told the Post.