Helen Mirren: Going without make-up is 'wonderful'

Dame Helen said she suspected selfies had "reached saturation"

Dame Helen Mirren has said it would be "wonderful" if it became more fashionable not to wear make-up.

The actress recently appeared without heavy make-up alongside actresses including Nicole Kidman and Lupita Nyong'o for the 2017 Pirelli Calendar.

Dame Helen said: "I think it would be wonderful if it became a fashion.

"Things are always cyclical, so I suspect we might've reached saturation with the whole selfie thing and maybe we're moving in another direction."

She added: "It would be great if we are, without being puritanical, because I love make-up, dressing up, so I don't want to be 'Oh we've all got to go without make-up'."

Julianne Moore, Rooney Mara and Robin Wright all joined Dame Helen for the au naturel photographs in the Pirelli calendar, while singer Alicia Keys recently announced her decision to go make-up free.

Nicole Kidman and Dame Helen appeared in the latest Pirelli calendar

Dame Helen's latest film Collateral Beauty sees her play "Death" - who visits a man grieving for his recently-deceased daughter.

Will Smith, Naomie Harris and Edward Norton also star in the film, which is released as the industry heads into awards season.

One year on from the "Oscars So White" controversy, all eyes will be on the upcoming awards season to see how much things have changed since the boycott over the lack of ethnic minority nominees.

Dame Helen told the BBC: "I think it has changed considerably. Obviously Will has been at the forefront of that for quite a long time.

"I think what has changed is actually the acceptance of the audience. It's the chicken and the egg, you don't know which is following which."

Collateral Beauty also stars Jacob Latimore, Will Smith, Naomie Harris and Edward Norton

She added: "It's very difficult to unpick it because obviously if the films aren't made with black leads, black themes, black stories, how can there be an audience for it?

"But on the other hand, especially internationally, there's always been a sort of a resistance, Will was one of the few stars that really broke through that.

"But things have really changed, globally, and because of that you see Hollywood changing. I think my dear friend Naomie [Harris] will be nominated for an Oscar this year, I'm pretty sure."

The actress added that Harris's other new film Moonlight "will get a great deal of attention just because it's a great movie with great acting in it".

Poor reviews

Collateral Beauty has received poor reviews from many critics. The Guardian and The Telegraph each gave it one-star, while the film currently has a 14% rating on reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Front Row about the reviews, Dame Helen said: "I knew that was going to happen, because there's a cynicism in the world of journalism that is admired, and this is not a film where cynicism has any play whatsoever.

"It's about a truth about life, a rather difficult truth. I knew reading the script this was a high wire act, I knew the danger."