Helen Mirren praises Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus for claiming their sexuality

Dame Helen Mirren has praised pop stars Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus, insisting that she is "thrilled" that young girls are embracing their sexuality.

The British actress admitted that she struggled to use her own sexuality as power in her early career, until her outrageous role in films like 1969's Age of Consent, in which she took her kit off for the film-going public as the teenage muse of an older painter, played by James Mason.

"I much prefer overt sexuality to sleazy, vulgar prurience," Mirren, who has never shied away even in her sixties from a role involving sex and nudity, explained.

"I was kind of a trailblazer because I demanded to do it my own way.

"I'd say, 'I'm not having it put on me by someone else’," the New York magazine.

"I'm thrilled young girls are claiming their sexuality for themselves. I love bold women: Madonna and Scarlett Johansson — sexy and gorgeous, but not only that.

"And Miley Cyrus — fantastic! And Lady Gaga — I love the way she's elevated pop to performance art, or dragged performance art down to pop, or maybe made a wonderful amalgam of the two," Mirren said.