“Being Real is Difficult”
Dame Helen Mirren, 62, British star of stage and screen, won an Oscar earlier this year for her performance in The Queen. An international sex symbol for more than 35 years, she also gained many fans after her portrayal of detective Jane Tennison in TV’s Prime Suspect.
Married to film director Taylor Hackford in 1997, the couple have homes in London, Los Angeles and the south of France, and an estate in New Orleans.
What were your dreams as a child?
By the age of 12, I thought it was inevitable I would act. I grew up in Southend-on-Sea where they put on shows at the end of the pier. My parents took me to see one with Terry Scott when I was seven and I fell off my chair laughing, I thought it was so funny. When the dancing girls came on, I thought: ‘That’s what I want to be.’ But my parents didn’t approve and now I understand why. They were quite poor and just wanted me to get a job that was secure. But I was always engaged in imaginative play and I thought it was miraculous to be able to live in these extraordinary worlds in your head. I always wanted to be in theatre – we never had television at home and we couldn’t afford the movies.
Have you had to change your life since you became a celebrity?
I became famous very gradually. I was actually quite well known in the theatrical world from an early age because I started acting when I was young. It grew incrementally, which I think was lucky because if all the attention comes in one go it can be dangerous.
It’s wonderful to have fans, but at the same time, it’s something I prefer to ignore. I just carry on with my life (I’m not Tom Cruise!) and I usually don’t notice people looking at me. If someone does approach me, they are usually incredibly nice, particularly in America where they do this cute thing – they run over to you and say ‘I love you!’ and then scuttle off back over the street.
Have you ever been in a hairy situation?
In 2001 I was due to appear on stage on Broadway in a play called Dance Of Death and we were doing our last rehearsals before opening on September 11. I was staying downtown and that morning I saw the planes crashing into the World Trade Centre.
The car was waiting outside my apartment to take me to rehearsal, and as I got in, I saw people turn around and look up. I looked, too, and saw the second tower come down. I got to the rehearsal and we didn’t know what to do, so we just did a pathetic run-through. We couldn’t think to do anything else.
New York came to a complete halt. All the shops were closed. There was only one business open, a porn shop. I saw a guy go in later that day, which seemed amazing to me.
It was a difficult time, but it taught me a huge admiration for the American people, especially New Yorkers.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Probably playing the Queen. You can’t imagine how intimidating it is to contemplate playing a real person. It’s terrifying, especially knowing that down the line you will be talking to journalists about it. You know you’re going to be under scrutiny. I haven’t often played living people.
I’ve avoided it because I think you’re in a no-win situation. You’ll never be half as good as the real person – all you can do really is fail. Except for Calendar Girls, but that’s different.
Do you feel exposed taking off your clothes on film?
I think it’s worse when you are younger because you are also a sexual object then. The thought of it used to fill me with dread, but when you are in your 50s and 60s it’s liberating. You’re not really a sexual object any more, you’re just a person without their clothes on and that’s a lot easier. The only regret I have now is journalists constantly ask me about it. It’s an endless, ongoing loop. Not in my mind, not in my concerns – just every time I do an interview.
You are known for playing powerful women – is that you in real life?
I have been very lucky with playing roles of tough and interesting women. Prime Suspect was a lucky break which allowed me to grow up – I had no idea playing Jane Tennison would be so huge. She was based on a true character, but she wasn’t my true inspiration. I never think about where my characters come from much – I don’t know how I prepare for any role, I just learn the lines and it happens. But I am angry about the paucity of good roles for women. We are half the population and there should be as many opportunities on TV for us as men, but there aren’t. It’s iniquitously difficult and just isn’t fair. There are equally precious few roles for women in life, especially politics. The day we see a gathering of heads of state and half of them are women will be when we can finally say we believe in equality.
What do you see when you look in the mirror?
My mother told me an amazingly wise thing – you should never worry about getting older because as you reach each age, you find, like a miracle, you’ve got the weapons and tools to deal with it. So your body gets older, but your mind gets better. You’ve learned how to deal with relationships, for example, you’ve realised you’re not the only person in the world and you know beauty is not the most important thing. To be obsessed by your looks is absolutely pathetic.
Do you regret not having children?
Not at all. I’m thrilled that I don’t have children – I have the thing I love, which is freedom. I think having a loving family around you is essential in life, but you can have that without having your own children. In a funny way, if you don’t have children, you can concern yourself more generously with the extended family and let other people have the children.
It’s a bit of a guilty secret because as a woman, you’re almost expected to be sad if you don’t have children, but that’s bull***t. There have always been women who don’t have kids.