Helen Miren in 'The Debt'. Followed Jewish boyfriend to Israel

Helen Mirren recounts kibbutz life

(Video) Oscar-winning British actress, who stars in 'The Debt', talks about month she spent on Israeli kibbutz in 1960s. 'I love that country,' she says

Ilan Mester|Published: 09.07.11 , 09:08

VIDEO - Helen Mirren, the Academy Award-winning actress behind films like "The Queen", "Red" and "Calendar Girls" – revealed in a recent interview with the New York Post that she lived in an Israeli kibbutz for a while during the 1960s.

“Years ago this was a Hebrew Israeli film, which we remade in English,” she told the New York Post about her new movie, "The Debt."

“I studied Hebrew for it. The grown-up movie’s a nail-biter. We did lots of it in Israel. I love that country, but it’s not my first time there. In the ’60s, six months after the Six-Day War, I worked on a kibbutz.”

The Oscar winner revealed to the news outlet that she had a Jewish boyfriend at the time and she accompanied him to Israel. “My job was to go into the fields,” she said about her duties at the kibbutz. “I was sent out with a big plastic bag to comb for grapes.”

Mirren plays a retired Mossad agent in "The Debt", which was adapted from a 2007 Israeli film. The movie was directed by John Madden.

The award-winning actress recently stopped by "Live! with Regis and Kelly" to talk about the movie and her kibbutz experience.

Reprinted with permission from Shalom Life