Dame¹ Helen Mirren has labelled British actors 'lazy', saying they are less hard-working and take longer to learn their lines than American performers.

海伦·米伦女爵士日前大呼英国演员“懒惰”，说他们不如美国演员用功，且要花很长的时间来记台词。

Dame Helen Mirren won a best actress Oscar for her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen

Dame Helen, 64, described British actors as "struggling", saying rehearsals³（排练） had to be cut short so that they could learn the script（剧本，手迹） .

Her comments related to a 1994 London production of A Month In The Country, in which she starred along with Joseph Fiennes and John Hurt, although she made no mention of individual members of the cast.

The Oscar winner, speaking in Los Angeles at the Brit Week Film & TV Summit last week, said there had been no such problem with the American ensemble⁴（全体，合奏） when the play moved to New York several months later.

She said: "They were two wonderful casts and great productions. But in England, at the first rehearsal² a lot of the cast were still not on top of their lines.

"We used to finish at two in the afternoon so everyone could learn lines. In America, by the second week the whole cast（阵容） had their lines down.

"And they did a full day's rehearsal, which we didn't do in England. There were no complaints, they just took that as being what you do. I've always loved American actors for their work ethic⁵, their absolute commitment."

In July Dame Helen will team up with（合作，协作） British comedian⁶ Russell Brand to begin filming a new version of the 1981 comedy Arthur, which originally starred Dudley Moore and John Gielgud.

Dame Helen and Brand have also finished filming a new version of The Tempest, which is to be released in the autumn, the Mail on Sunday reported.