Veteran actress Tippi Hedren says she survived working with Alfred Hitchcock – but her career was another matter.

She had to fight to get out of her contract with Hitchcock and lost roles because of it

Ms Hedren’s experience on the famed British film director’s The Birds in 1963 and Marnie a year later is dramatised in new HBO film The Girl.

In the film, Hitchcock is portrayed as obsessed with Ms Hedren and vindictive when the actress rejects his advances.

The director “ruined my career, but he didn’t ruin my life”, Ms Hedren told a meeting of the Television Critics Association in Beverly Hills.

She had to fight to get out of her contract with Hitchcock and lost roles because of it, she said in an interview.

Sienna Miller, who spoke to the critics’ meeting by telephone, plays Ms Hedren and Toby Jones is Hitchcock in The Girl, which debuts on HBO on October 20.

During the session, Ms Miller and Ms Hedren, 82, exchanged long-distance pleasantries that apparently referred to a newcomer in Ms Miller’s life. According to reports, the 30-year-old actress gave birth to a baby girl in early July.