Celia Imrie wants to star in a Hollywood film.

The British actress is hoping her starring role in 'The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' will help catapult her to fame across the pond so she can forge an international film career like co-star Dame Maggie Smith.

She said: ''I wish I'd done it years ago.

''But I'm hoping that the buzz surrounding 'Marigold' can create the possibility of a late entry into Hollywood, although the movie could never have been made there as nobody has wrinkles.''

Despite her jokes, the 62-year-old star admitted she thinks it must be difficult for young women in Hollywood who see the number of roles offered to them diminish as they get older due to how shallow the industry is.

She mused: ''It's always the beauties who really ruin themselves; if you've always been cast as the love interest it must be terribly hard to face up to the passage of the years.''

And although she sometimes wishes she was younger, Celia believes it is a good time for older actresses because there are more films available to them.

Speaking in The Mail on Sunday's You magazine, she explained: ''I've never been the ingénue, but when Maggie, Judi [Dame Judi Dench] and I all sat down to watch the first film ['The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'], the director John Madden was roaring with laughter because we were wailing about how old we all looked. But what the heck: it's what the film's about and I do consider myself lucky to have been just the right age when 'Calendar Girls' was cast and just the right age for 'Marigold'. This is a great time for women my age.''