She’s currently lighting up screens in TV series Mobland, playing a hardened crime boss, and matriarch Cara Dutton in 1923. But instead of putting her feet up, she’s plunged head-first into her new project, filming the cosy mystery movie The Thursday Murder Club.
At 79, Helen Mirren is quite possibly the hardest-working septuagenarian in Hollywood. Just don’t mention it to her!
“I’m older,” muses the White Bird actor, who turns 80 in July. “I’m sure I’ll go all pear-shaped soon. But I’m not interested in being young. I’m interested in being exactly who I am.
“I never thought I’d be 79. I’m not full of youth but I am life full. I much prefer that phrase.”
Since 1991, when she began her 15-year star turn as Detective Jane Tennison in the acclaimed British police TV drama Prime Suspect, Helen has been on a roll.
Of course, before then, she’d already built a solid acting career. And thanks to her infamous 1975 interview with iconic British chat-show host Michael Parkinson, she’d also cemented her reputation as a woman not to be dallied with.
In the pair’s frosty exchange, Michael asked if Helen felt her “physical attributes” had hindered her career. The staunch feminist shot back, “I can’t think that can necessarily be true. I mean, what a crummy performance if people are obsessed with the size of your bosom or anything else.”
Decades later, people still consider that interaction to be one of the most awkward moments in chat-show history. However, these days, Helen has had a change of heart about the question.
“In lots of ways, he was right,” she reflects. “My physicality did get in the way of people taking me seriously as a classical actress.”
Michael died in 2023, aged 88. In hindsight, she says he did a lot of good, including giving Sir Elton John a voice after someone publicly outed him as gay.
“Parky invited Elton onto his show so they could talk about it properly,” she says. “He held out a hand and helped Elton at a very important moment. So I don’t want to diss Parky.”
Despite her U-turn on Michael, Helen is as fierce as ever regarding issues close to her heart.
Her decades-long friendship with former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan, 71, has been on full display in recent weeks. Not only do the pair play a married couple in Mobland, but they’re also starring together in The Thursday Murder Club in an adaptation of the popular Richard Osman book series.
But that didn’t stop her from opining on her friend’’s most famous role.
“I never liked James Bond,” she says. “I never liked the way women were in James Bond. The whole concept of James Bond is drenched and born out of profound sexism.”
Instead of taking offence, Pierce agreed with her.
While it’s doubtful Helen will accept a role in any future Bond movies, the Oscar winner confesses it’s very likely fans will spot her on a red carpet sometime soon.
The reason? She loves it!
“For me, the red carpet is a brief theatrical moment and I like to make it that,” she laughs. “I’ve done a lot of theatre and the red carpet really is a theatre. I love dressing up and I love costumes – that’s partly why I’m an actress.”
The Queen star, who has been married to American director Taylor Hackford, 80, for 28 years, recently revealed her secret to staying in red carpet-ready shape for decades – and it doesn’t involve anything fancy.
“I’m a big believer in the Royal Canadian Air Force women’s exercise regimen, which is 12 minutes,” she shares.
“Exercise doesn’t mean joining expensive gyms. It is an exercise regimen that starts from very low and easy, then if you follow it through, it can become quite difficult.
“I’ve never got past the second level, but it’s a nice little programme.”
As she nears her ninth decade, Helen says she’s “fairly healthy” and mindful of how much change she’s seen in her lifetime.
“I feel so grateful that I lived in a world without technology for quite some time,” she says. “I knew a world without technology in a deep and full sense. Human connection was a very different thing back then.”
An aged-care charity is one of many causes she takes time to support.
“Ageing happens to us all, but as we get older, life can get tougher,” she muses. “People start treating many of us differently, which can not only be very upsetting but also unfair. Everybody, regardless of their age, should feel included and valued.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
