http://chud.com/nextraimages/helen_mirren_oscar.jpgMichael Caine was famously on the set of Jaws: The Revenge when he won his Oscar for Hannah and Her Sisters. Helen Mirren will probably be in the Kodak Theater on Oscar night to collect her all but inevitable award for The Queen, but she was on set in England the day the nominations were announced.

Mirren was at Shepperton Studios, just outside of London, filming New Line’s Inkheart, a fantasy movie that also stars Brendan Fraser, Andy Serkis and Paul Bettany* when Salma Hayek read out this year’s nominees. I was visiting The Golden Compass, one soundstage over, at the time, but I sat down with Mirren the next day, and she talked about what she was shooting when word got to her.

“Yesterday we were shooting a scene where golden coins fall from the ceiling,” she said. “I’m sitting there, showered with gold, feeling marvelous.” New Line’s Mark Ordesky, who was also visiting the set, said that the cast and crew celebrated with some champagne after Mirren did a round of phoners to give her reaction to the news.

I know that this isn’t what you’re used to reading on CHUD, but I couldn’t piss that headline away.

*I went to England knowing nothing about Inkheart and walked away very, very impressed. This looks like not just a fun movie, but one that I can get behind, since it’s all about the joys of reading. Which is, admittedly, a weird topic for a movie, but a very cool one nonetheless. I’ll be doing a fuller set visit piece soon.