Helen Mirren Queen Of Cool

At 73, Dame Helen Mirren has learnt a few things about life... finding power in insecurity, why marriage is ultimately the right choice and the joy of a good charity shop. With her return to television imminent – playing Catherine the Great in a new miniseries – Emma Clifton looks at the wisdom, worries and loves of the illustrious star.

Helen Mirren often makes headlines, and because she’s Helen Mirren, there’s always a certain feisty coolness to the story behind the news. Recently, there was one such moment when Helen was asked if she had any regrets about how she had been treated as a young actress.

“Being old is cool, but oh, how I wish I were 18 right now with the strength and courage to say ‘F**k off,’” she said. “If I could go back and tell my younger self anything, it would be this: “Darling, learn these two words: F**k. Off. All my life I never learnt to say those words, I just learnt to be nice, to play along.”

With all the words that could be used to describe Dame Helen in 2019, “nice” would probably not be one of them. She’s a firecracker, a broad, a titan. Likeability – one of the terms used consistently to define a woman’s worth, but never a man’s – has rarely been a goal for Helen. And all of that vim and vigour gets mixed in with viciousness for her latest role, playing the legendary Russian leader Catherine the Great. The new four-part series has seriously impressive alumni – Elizabeth I screenwriter Nigel Williams has teamed up with The Crown director Philip Martin. Plus, of course, there’s the Helen Mirren factor: the Oscar winner will be playing her sixth royal character. “There are unscrupulous people in Russia – fortunately, I am one of them,” she glowers in the promo, bedecked in the show’s magnificent costume finery. Whether it’s the small screen or the big screen, every time Helen takes on a new role it is both totally unexpected and highly anticipated – it makes us realise how much we’ve missed seeing her.