Helen Mirren was 'more alive' when playing Death

Helen Mirren has told Sky News it was life that inspired her role as an actress playing Death in new Christmas film Collateral Beauty.

The 71-year-old stars as Brigitte, the leader of a trio of aspiring actors hired to play personified versions of Death, Love and Time - which their bereaved colleague has been writing letters to.

"I just did not want to wear black, I did not want to be gloomy," Mirren explained.

"My first thought was I just want to be as alive as possible, more alive in this movie than in any movie I've ever been in."

She also revealed she was the one who decided Death should be wearing blue.

"It was a great day when I found the colour blue that would be her costume," she said.

"This beautiful blue, the blue of the ocean, of the sky on a beautiful sunny day, that fantastic, clear blue."

The actress told Sky News she recognised herself in the character.

"It's someone I know. In my heart I know that person. I believe that actually I could have been that person if my work hadn't taken a different trajectory," she said.

The film features a huge ensemble cast including Will Smith, Edward Norton, Kate Winslet and Keira Knightly.

But Mirren said egos were not an issue on set.

"Of course we all love to be the star, don't get me wrong, we do. But there's also a profound, real desire to work collaboratively and to work in an ensemble," she said.

Producers will be hoping Collateral Beauty can join the ranks of popular Christmas films such as Love Actually, but Mirren admits her own festive favourite isn't an obvious choice.

"I do like Bad Santa. I love Bad Santa. It's terrible but I do."

And it is not just the Billy-Bob Thornton comedy that she rates.

"For the happy Christmas movies It's a Wonderful Life is the film that is the ideal - in the sense that it deals with a very serious subject, as ours does, but there's a sense of lightness to it."

Collateral Beauty is out in cinemas in the UK on 30 December.