Touchstone Pictures "Calendar Girls" is based on the true story of a group of women who bare all--or nearly all--for charity and become international celebrities as a result. The Women's Institute in Great Britian, encourages the ancient skills of jam-making, flower dressing, knitting and baking. So when a group of extraordinary women are looing for a new way to raise money, they decide to take the annual WI calndar, normally featuring landscapes or flowers, and create something traditional--but with a twist. Behind the baked goods, the apply pressing and the flower arranging, the women are completely nude. "Calendar Girls" is a comedy of outsize proportions.

HELEN MIRREN (Chris), one of Britain's most versatile and acclaimed actresses, has worked with some of the world's best directors both on the screen and the stage. Her best known films include John Mackenzie's "The Long Good Friday," Tinto Brass's "Caligula," John Boorman's "Excalibur," Pat O'Connor's "Cal," for which sho won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1984, Peter Greenway's "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover," Terry George's "Some Mother's Son," Nicholas Hytner's "The Madness of King George," for which she won an Academy Award Best Supporting Actress nomination and a second Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Robert Altman's "Gosford Park," for which she received her second Academy Award Best Supporting Actress nomination, and Fred Schepisi's "Last Orders." She will soon be seen alongside Robert Redford and Willem Dafoe in "The Clearing," from director Pieter Jan Brugge.

On television, she is best known for her performance as Jane Tennison in the gritty detective series "Prime Suspect," for which she has won BAFTA Best Television Actress awards several years running as well as a Best Actress Emmy. She won a second Emmy for "The Passion of Ayn Rand" in 1999 and a Golden Globe for Losing Chase" in 1997. She began her career on stage, winning plaudits for her performance in "Troilus and Cressida" and "Hamlet" at the Royal Shakespeare Company. More recently she was nominated for a Best Actress Tony in 2002 for "Dance of Death."

Director NIGEL COLE made his feature film debut with "Saving Grace," the comedy about a middle-aged woman who goes into the cannabis trade wh-ich starred Brenda Blethyn. The film enjoyed an enthusiastic world premiere at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival and had Cole fending off several offers from Hollywood agents and producers. Cole began his career in fringe theatre before moving on to commercials and television. He directed the first series of the award-winning, hugely popular comedy drama series "Cold Feet," as well as episodes of the "In the Wild" series, which took celebrities including Julia Roberts and Robin Williams to experience life in remote parts of the world.