Dame Helen Mirren thinks David Beckham is "unbelievably beautiful".

Dame Helen Mirren

Dame Helen Mirren

Mirren, who is married to director Taylor Hackford understands why women admire the football star, however wishes that fans would be more vocal about the other qualities celebrities posess rather than just the way they look. 

She said: "I don't really like the word 'beauty'. There are physically beautiful people in the world - David Beckham, for instance, is unbelievably beautiful - then there are other people that are not beautiful, but are very attractive because of their personality, energy, brilliance, genius; all kinds of things.

"So I have a resistance to the word 'beautiful'. I wish we could find another word that takes it away from physical beauty and brings it more into the world of true attractiveness."

She admits that she was never the most confident of people but the movie business has helped her to come out of herself more. 

She told the Daily Mail newspaper: "People say to me 'Oh, you're so self-confident' but I am not naturally self-confident, I just have had to be in my work and my life. If it's a problem, it's my problem -- I've got to deal with it."

She revealed that she is concerned less about her looks now rather than when she was young- as her confidence has increased with age. 

She said: "I used to worry a lot more about my looks than I do now.

"I think the great advantage of getting older is that you let go of certain things. Having said that, I think all women worry to some degree -- and I don't think men are exempt."