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'It's a male chauvinist thing. You know that phrase I'm sure': Helen Mirren shows her feisty side in unearthed 1970s Parkinson interview

Published: 04:24 EST, 23 August 2016 | Updated: 11:20 EST, 23 August 2016

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At 71-years-old, she has a reputation as a straight-talking intelligent actress with an Oscar and several Emmys under her belt.

But even 40 years ago, Helen Mirren was showing her feisty side.

In an unearthed 1975 TV interview with British chat show host Michael Parkinson, the then-30-year-old star is seen deflecting some rather inappropriate questions about her body.

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Holding her own: The 1975 interview featuring Helen Mirren on TV chat show Parkinson has gone viral

'Do you find that in fact, what could best be described as your equipment hinders you in the pursuit of being a successful actress?' asks Parkinson to the clearly bemused star.

'I'd like you to explain what you mean by my equipment?' she asks the uncomfortable chat show host. 'You mean my fingers?'

Finally Parkinson clarifies that he means the star's 'figure.'

'Because serious actresses can’t have big bosoms, is that what you mean?' Helen asks.

Sexist: The video of the chat with Michael Parkinson has gone viral, with many Internet users labelling it 'sexist'

'Well I sort of think they might detract from a performance,' says Parkinson.

'Urgh,' groans Helen, rolling her eyes. 'I can't think that can necessarily be true. What a crummy performance if people are obsessed with the size of your bosom or anything else.

'I would hope the performance, the play and the living relationship between all the people on the stage and all the people in the audience overcome such boring questions.'

The increasingly awkward interview continued on similar lines with Parkinson then quizzing Helen about on-screen nudity. But the feisty star managed to get a well-timed dig in towards her host.

'There are lots of reasons for taking your clothes off in a movie and one of them is basically whatever the director says, you know they're being done for commercial reasons,' says Helen.

'It's a male chauvinist kind of thing. - you know that phrase I'm sure?'

The video has gone viral, under what many are calling a 'sexist interview.'

The actress was on the show to promote her role of Lady MacBeth in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of MacBeth.