Mirren says she still buys lottery tickets

LOS ANGELES, April 6 (UPI) -- British actress Helen Mirren admits she occasionally buys lottery tickets when the jackpot gets large enough.

While promoting their new film "Arthur," a comedy about a drunken billionaire playboy and the nanny who looks out for him, Mirren and her co-star Russell Brand were asked at a Los Angeles press conference to divulge the most extravagant purchases they have ever made.

"My husband (director Taylor Hackford) and I did buy a castle in Puglia (in southern Italy,)" Mirren said.

"It's not finished," the Oscar-winning star of "The Queen" said. "It will be beautiful, but it's not finished. It's not really a castle, it's a farmhouse, but it's got a little thing where you can pour boiling oil out of. Because Puglia was being invaded all the time, it had endless invasions so even the farmhouses are fortified."

Brand declined to name any of the luxuries he has bought, insisting he is a man with simple tastes.

Mirren said she believes the story at the heart of "Arthur" will appeal to audiences because it taps into a common dream.

"I think it's a fantasy we all have," she said. "What would you do if you had a billion dollars? That's why when the lottery gets really big, it's up to $40 million or $ 50 million, I go out and buy a lottery ticket. Because maybe I'll win."

"So, you could buy another castle?" Brand quipped.

"You fantasize about what it would be like to have millions and millions and millions of dollars. I think we all do that. And here we are. We can see what happens (in this film) … I think it's a fantasy that we all carry within us, anyone who has ever bought a lottery ticket," the actress said. "We're all dreamers."

"Arthur," a remake of the 1981 comedy starring Dudley Moore and John Gielgud, opens in U.S. theaters Friday.