5 Things to Know About Helen Mirren

— -- Dame Helen Mirren is without a doubt one of the top draws at the box office. Moviegoers have grown to count on Mirren to deliver one mind-blowing performance after another. This week, she returns to the big screen in the new drama "Collateral Beauty."

Mirren stars opposite Will Smith in the film about a man who has suffered a great tragedy in his life and finds it difficult to relate to those around him. Mirren stopped by ABC’s "Popcorn With Peter Travers" to talk about the role.

"He’s trying to find his way back into life through those incredibly fundamental elements to human existence -- time, love, death -- trying to find what is the relationship between those elements and how does it all fit together," Mirren said.

Kate Winslet, Edward Norton and Keira Knightley round out some of the other heavy-hitters in the film. Travers likened the story line to "A Christmas Carol."

While talking about the film, Mirren, 71, shared some interesting details about her life that might surprise many of her fans.

She has a grove of pomegranate trees

Mirren and her director husband, Taylor Hackford, plan to spend the holidays in Italy tending to their farm.

"Well, we have 400 hundred pomegranate trees. So we walk among our pomegranate trees and see if they need pruning or what, as we go, or spraying," Mirren said. "The citrus trees always need spraying or mulching or fertilizing."

Mirren is a contadina

"I'm an official an Italian contadina," said Mirren. "Oh yes, I got my contadina papers."

"And what does that mean?" Travers asked.

"It means basically I'm an Italian peasant," she said. "It means I till the ground."

Mirren and Hackford also have a flat in London and a farmhouse in the south of France, in addition to living part-time in Los Angeles.

She prefers to do her own stunt driving in films

Mirren’s next big-screen project is coming right up. She’ll be starring in the new "Fast and Furious" movie. It was a role she pursued, she said.

"Well, I had a craving to be in that movie," Mirren said. "I love cars. I love driving. I've always tried to do my own stunt driving whenever there's a driving shot," she said, twisting her body like she was driving. "I thought that would be real fun to do."

Mirren is on a quest for an EGOT

She’s already won an Emmy, an Oscar and a Tony award. But the much-coveted EGOT has eluded Mirren thus far.

"I can't sing. That's the problem. I know I can't sing. It's because I can't sing," she said. "But a Grammy would seal the deal."

"Wouldn't that be amazing? It would be fantastic," she said. "On the venal side of my nature, which is definitely there, I would love to get a Grammy just for that reason. I'm planning all sorts of possibilities."

She receives invites from the queen

"The queen -- you've played that woman more than she's played herself," Travers joked. He asked if she’s ever invited to tea.

"Actually I do get invitations to the palace from time to time. The latest thing, which was my saying thank you to her really, was her 90th birthday celebration at Windsor and I went and did some speaking for that night."

Mirren said the queen has never commented on her portrayals of her.

"And that’s a great thing. You can do whatever you like about her, to her, whatever. She will let that happen. She will never comment. She will never say that was good, that was bad."

Mirren added, "There’s an incredible dignity in that and some people truly have dignity. And I think the queen does. She truly has dignity in the best possible sense."

Watch the full interview to see more of Mirren talking about "Collateral Beauty" and her incredible career.