‘Arthur’ director intimidated by Helen Mirren
April 7th, 2011 - 5:39 am ICT by IANSLondon, April 7 (IANS) “Arthur” director Jason Winer was so intimidated by veteran actress Helen Mirren that he had to read about the etiquette of drinking tea before meeting her.
The Oscar-winning actress did not agree to sign for the remake of the classic Dudley Moore film starring Russell Brand until she met the filmmaker, something which caused him much distress, reports contactmusic.com.
“I definitely was intimidated by the prospect of working with Helen, in particular. Before Helen was on board officially, she was interested, she had read the script and she wanted to work with Russell, but she wanted to meet me, before she said yes, so I was sent to her house to have tea. It was nerve-wracking, to say the least,” Winer told Collider.com.
“My agent was actually freaking out ’cause he was like, ‘Have you ever had tea with a British person? There are rules! There is all sorts of etiquette. And, he forwarded me a link to a tea etiquette website, where I learned silly things like you’re supposed to stir the tea back and forth with the spoon, and not in a circle. That’s considered rude. There was crazy stuff like that.”
However, he was happy because Mirren only appeared to be “regal” and was a lot easier to get on with than he expected.
“When I got to her house, not only did she immediately profess to be a big fan of ‘Modern Family’, which put me at ease, she also made us tea in mismatching mugs, with Lipton tea bags and water heated up from the microwave,” he said.
- Russell Brand sniffed alcohol for 'Arthur' role - Oct 12, 2010
- Helen Mirren scared of working with Russell Brand - Apr 14, 2011
- 'Arthur' - funny, but let down on original - May 14, 2011
- Dominic Cooper tried to woo Helen Mirren - Jul 26, 2011
- Russell Brand eager to work with Dame Helen Mirren - Jun 10, 2010
- Russell Brand locks lips with Dame Helen Mirren - Mar 30, 2011
- Evander Holyfield taught me how to punch, says Helen Mirren - Apr 06, 2011
- Ronson wants to make more movie soundtracks - Apr 26, 2011
- Russell, Diggs team up again for kung fu movie - Sep 15, 2010
- Russell Brand branded a dud over 'Arthur' remake - Apr 07, 2011
- I am going to have Russell Brand's underwear framed, jokes Helen Mirren - Jan 25, 2011
- Helen Mirren taking her clothes off even at 65 - Oct 24, 2010
- Helen Mirren 'intimidated' by Joe Pesci - Jul 06, 2010
- Russell Brand gets bath from Helen Mirren - Aug 11, 2010
- Playboy model Candice is Aishwarya fan - Sep 19, 2011
Tags: all sorts, arthur, british person, crazy stuff, dudley moore, dudley moore film, helen mirren, jason winer, lipton tea bags, london, microwave, mugs, nerve, russell brand, silly things, spoon, tea etiquette, veteran actress