Dame Helen Mirren loves the “chaos” of walking in fashion shows.

The 76-year-old actress recently walked in L’Oreal Paris’ runway show at Paris Fashion Week, and she has admitted she loves how “fun” it is being involved in the manic preparations, and seeing it all coming together perfectly when the models “miraculously” walk the catwalk.

She explained: “I’ve done a lot of theatre in my life so the whole idea of walking out to do a show is in my DNA. But what I love about fashion shows is that – unlike theatre where it’s all rehearsed and everyone knows what they’re doing (you hope!) – it’s absolute chaos! I love the technicality of how they put a fashion show together, it’s so fun to watch.

“And I have to say that all the real models are so sweet. They’re relaxed because they do it over and over again, so they’re used to the chaos.

” I watch it all in awe and wonder. Somehow, miraculously, there is a moment where you all line up and go on one after another and it all comes together. It all looks perfect and everyone knows what they’re doing and I never quite get it! But it’s really fun.”

Elsewhere, the ‘Queen’ star admitted she is always smiling these days after years of trying to “suck in” her jaw to try and conceal her “fat cheeks”.

She insisted: “You grow into it, without question. It was a long time ago but I remember the moment – I learned to smile. I always had fat cheeks (and I still do!), so I was always sucking my cheeks in. But you can’t suck your cheeks in and smile at the same time! It’s absolutely impossible. So I guess I never smiled. Then I discovered that, actually, it’s nice to smile openly and with freedom, not a tight little smile, a big one. It certainly has served me in good stead. Normally if you see me in photos, I’m almost always smiling. I don’t do a Victoria Beckham – who I love, incidentally, she’s one of my favourite people – but she’s always got the smoulder on. I’m not so good at that anymore.”

The ‘Good Liar’ star also revealed that she has never paid for her hair to be coloured professionally because it’s “expensive”, so she always DIYs her dye jobs.

On coming to terms with going grey, she told Vogue UK: “I have to say it was very easy for me because my hair was always blonde. I was a natural blonde and although it was quite dark at times, in the summertime when I’d spent time in the sun, it would basically go white. So the process of me losing the colour of my hair was very easy – it just looked more and more as if I had been in the sun, but year-round. I put low lights in it in the past – and I’d like to do it again soon. I’ve always done it myself, I never went to have my hair coloured – I couldn’t be bothered, it’s so boring and expensive. I think it can be more difficult [to go grey] if you have much darker hair, but the women of my age who have made the leap recently look so spectacular.”