‘I'd find being Queen VERY IMPRISONING'

Dame Helen Mirren reveals her opinion of Queen Elizabeth II and why she will always have respect for the British monarchy

- KAREN EDWARDS

Dame Helen Mirren is one of Britain’s acting greats, who has carved out a successful and long-lasting film career in the UK and Hollywood. She has played a variety of roles in some of the biggest movies – from Calendar Girls in 2003 and The Queen in 2006 to the more recent star-studded Collateral Beauty in 2016.

It is no accident that Helen tends to play well-defined and strong women, often with an edge of feistiness. At 75 years old, she is back on the silver screen with her latest cinematic release, Fast & Furious 9, playing Magdalene ‘Queenie’ Shaw, the mother of Jason Statham’s character Deckard Shaw.

Now living between the UK and the US with her husband, American film director Taylor Hackford, it’s clear that Helen still has a tremendous amount of pride in her home country. ‘I love history and, obviously, the history of Great Britain is of particular interest to me,’ she says.