Dame Helen Mirren has joined the cast of 'The One and Only Ivan'.

Helen Mirren

Helen Mirren

The 72-year-old actress will work alongside Danny DeVito and Angelina Jolie on Disney's live-action/CG hybrid adaptation of Katherine Applegate's acclaimed book.

Angelina, 42, is producing and voicing one of the characters, with Bryan Cranston and Ariana Greenblatt also set to appear in the live-action elements of the movie.

Elsewhere, Sam Rockwell and Brooklynn Prince will join Mirren and DeVito as part of the voice cast.

Production work for the film started earlier this week, but Disney is remaining tight-lipped about character details for the time being.

'The One and Only Ivan' was originally published in 2012 and it tells the story of a silverback gorilla who lives in a cage at a mall.

Meanwhile, Helen previously joked that she had to beg for her roles in 'Fast & Furious 8' and 'Red'.

The British actress is more known for her dramatic work, but was desperate to be a part of an action series, and claimed that being an Oscar winner worked to her advantage.

Mirren - who starred alongside Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman in 2010's 'Red' - shared: "It was a little hankering definitely. Absolutely it was.

"I begged. I put it out there and then I begged. That was one of the wonderful advantages of winning an Oscar. I got to be in action movies!

"Because they love having Oscar winners in their action movies. They want to bring you down."