Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones will join the cast of a touring production of Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer-Prize winning play "Driving Miss Daisy."

The veteran thespians appeared together at a press conference in Australia on Monday to talk about their upcoming roles and the joy of still acting in their 80's.

"I'm very enthusiastic about acting still," said Jones, who will celebrate his 82nd birthday this month, according to The Associated Press. "I love the process of creating a character."

The 87-year-old actress spoke about her joys of performing in live theater versus moving pictures: "You get on stage and you really can let it out. You're not hampered by camera angles or lighting."

"Coming back to the theater about seven years ago turned the tide for me, it really did. Because it gave me a career after 70," the former "Murder, She Wrote" actress added. "I could still work in the theater and play great roles, but it wasn't so easy to continue as a motion picture actress."

The play, which spawned the popular 1989 film of the same name, is about the friendship between an elderly Jewish woman and her African-American chauffeur that develops over the years starting in the 1950's.

Jones said he was attracted to the chauffeur character Hoke because of his flaws.

"Hoke Colburn is such a character. He's illiterate, but he speaks English ... and uses it very effectively and very poetically," Jones said. "That's what I love about the role, trying to understand how he re-weaves language so he gets himself across."

Lansbury added that it was her role as a southerner that drew her to take the part saying, "Their accents were so interesting to me."

The film version, starring Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman, went on to gross more than $145 million and won the Oscar for Best Picture.