What’s it like to live with Helen Mirren?
An interview with Taylor Hackford about living with wife Helen Mirren.
The thing that turns me on – as a man and as an artist – is talent. The fact that Helen is a great actress was an important part of my attraction to her. That she’s a very sexy woman wasn’t lost on me either. Our first proper encounter was not exactly what you would call positive. I had seen her before in an experimental performance in California; three or four years later, I called her in for a casting for White Nights with Mikhail Baryshnikov [released in 1985]. I was running late and out getting a sandwich when she arrived. When we got back, she was piping mad. She said, “Are we going to read, or not?” She read beautifully, of course, and got the part; though she certainly wasn’t courteous.
Last year we worked together again, on my film Love Ranch. When she first arrived on set, she had just caught flu. It’s hard when you’re sleeping with someone every night who is hacking and coughing, then you have to ask them to get up and work the next day in sub-freezing temperatures; but she was incredible. My wife is always the leader on-set (not just in my films); to have the star of your film standing there like a rock, delivering in the most brilliant way, is such a gift.
Taking on the role of the Queen in Stephen Frears’s film was an incredibly difficult decision for her. I hadn’t visited her on-set, and hadn’t seen her in the role until the premiere at the Venice film festival. The first image on the screen was the Queen sitting for a portrait, and she’s dressed in all her queenly drag. I was surprised and shocked. I just broke out laughing – and I have a very large laugh. She was saying, “Shhh! Stop it!” Then when I had settled into the film, she leaned over and said, “Darling, will you ever sleep with me again?”