Dame Helen Mirren doesn't care about being called a sex symbol.

The 74-year-old actress does not agree that she is a bombshell but says she no longer cares about how people label her.

She told Woman magazine: ''I don't agree that I'm a sex symbol. The great thing about getting older is that you get over all that. You tend to think, 'Sex symbol? What the f**k does that mean?' There are so many other interesting things to be driven by. It's great and I'm not knocking it - it's a fabulous part of life - but it's only a part, it's not everything. So I'll take it, I'm not going to argue with it. But I'm not going to pay attention either.''

Helen also admitted she was never confident about her looks when she was younger.

She explained: ''Because of the way I was born, I fell into a rather 50s understanding of sexy, which I found so annoying and embarrassing and mortifying and humiliating, it just wasn't ever my taste.

''I wanted to be, you know, a skinny girl in black with a Gitane cigarette - and physically, I just wasn't. I had to deal with what I had been given genetically, but, at the same time, not allow it to ruin my life.

''History doesn't really want women to be successful. And, if they are, they have to have gotten their success through sex basically.''

While the actress doesn't care about people judging her looks, she is quite sensitive when it comes to her work.

Helen said: ''I do give a big f**k about a lot of things. If someone says, 'I didn't like that Helen Mirren movie,' it always hurts a little because my job is to entertain and for people to enjoy my work. You're nowhere without an audience. I'm quite sensitive actually but certain things you have to learn not to give a f**k about, and getting older does help with that hugely.''