Helen Mirren: From 'Queen' to cook

She reigns. She twerks. But a food connoisseur?

"I'm not a foodie, I'm really not," says Helen Mirren, all throaty laughs and saucy off-screen anecdotes discussing her turn as a Michelin-star French chef inThe Hundred-Foot Journey, in theaters Friday.

"I'm a food-as-fuel person. I love good peasant food," says the Oscar-winning actress, who reduces her cooking acumen to a love affair with her portable grill. "A couple of times in my life I've been taken out to a absolutely spectacular meal, once in aGordon Ramsay restaurant many years ago and it was incredibly good. But I don't want to do that very often."

Cultures clash in the epicurean film, which plants the Indian Kadam family — also restaurateurs — in the South of France across the cobbled street from Madame Mallory's (Mirren) haute cuisine establishment, Le Saule Pleureur.

Initially horrified that such fragrant ethnic fare could blemish her Michelin status, Mallory slowly warms to Hassan (Manish Dayal), the young chef whipping up simmering curries and tandoori chicken across the street. And in her classical French kitchen, his career is launched.

The feel-good summer movie, backed by Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey, is Hollywood's latest attempt to import Indian culture to the silver screen after the success of films such as Slumdog Millionaire and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. "Isn't that exciting?" says Mirren. "It's such a wonderful continent. It's so complex and beautiful and dark and extraordinary. It's incredible film gold, really."

The novel, by Richard C. Morais, began its journey to the screen when Winfrey put the book on her summer reading list in 2010. But, as Mirren cautions, "a film and a book are two very different things," and readers will note that the story has shifted away from Hassan's ascent into the Paris food scene.

In real life, "when I go to Michelin star restaurants I don't actually particularly like them," says Mirren. In New York, she's more often spotted at a little Ukrainian diner called Stage Restaurant, where "there's about 10 places in a row at the counter. That's the kind of restaurant I love."

Producer Juliet Blake, who first optioned the rights to the novel, laughs when asked about Mirren's spicier side, recalling the day she overhead Mirren being questioned about the little interlocking V-shaped tattoo on her hand by one of the young actors on set.

"Did you do it yourself?" Blake heard the child say. "And she said, 'No but they're really easy to do. You just get a needle, you need a very clean needle and you get ink and you just…" Blake laughs. "I went to her afterward and said, 'You're so naughty! That poor little boy is going to go home with a tattoo on his hand.' She's a renegade."

Next, Mirren will revive her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II on Broadway (Mirren won an Oscar for 2006's The Queen.)The Audience begins previews in February after opening in London earlier this year to rave reviews. It's a grueling endeavor; Mirren is in virtually every scene for two hours, often twice a day. How does Mirren protect her voice? "Oh God, don't remind me," she groans. "You can't talk at home."

As for the media glare that surrounds her A-list status, the actress offers an ever-so-royal shrug.

"For some people it's the center of their world, but for most working actors including the biggest-biggest-biggest stars, it's a side show. It's something you have to do because it's a part of your profession to do it, but it's not the center of it."

She grins. "The center of it is usually on a (expletive) freezing morning of mud, and you've got to do this scene and you don't feel like it, and you've got a bad stomach. And you've got to do it."