“Nastiest of All Nasty Women” Helen Mirren has been redefining and challenging Hollywood standards for decades. From her longstanding role as DCI Jane Tennison in “Prime Suspect” to her latest stint in last year’s “The Fate of the Furious,” the actress has consistently proven that she, like Hollywood’s other women, cannot — and should not — be put into a box. It comes as no surprise, then, that her definition of “beauty” is not either.
In a recent interview with Allure magazine, Mirren stresses that she finds the word “beauty” problematic. “Of course beauty is inside,” she said, “but it’s still a word. When it’s tied to pictures of people and amazing outfits on girls who can wear that stuff, it’s intimidating for the rest of us.”
This is not to say, though, that Mirren has not struggled with fitting into the societal mold, particularly during her younger years. “It’s hard to explain how difficult it is to overcome the culture,” said Mirren. “You become a voice in the wilderness. No one wants to listen.” Looking back, she’d advise her younger self to “say ‘Fuck off’ more and stop being so ‘bloody polite.’”
Arguably, this retrospection comes hand in hand with Mirren’s extensive industry experience and current age, of which Mirren has been very vocal. She has a keen understanding of how age operates as a barrier within Hollywood — and how gendered its restrictions actually are. At TheWrap’s Power Breakfast in 2015, Mirren pointed out how “fucking outrageous” ageist double standards actually are. “We all watched James Bond as he got more and more geriatric,” she said, “and his girlfriends got younger and younger.”
If anything, examples like these add fuel to Mirren’s fire. She is consistently applying the confidence that she did not afford her younger self to her current age group — both onscreen and off. Through films like “The Fate of the Furious,” she aims to show how older women are capable of more than “movies about Alzheimer’s and cancer.”
Mirren’s latest project, “The Leisure Seeker,” follows runaway seniors as they hit the road in an RV. It is expected to hit theaters sometime next year.
