Helen Mirren is the “nastiest of all nasty women” — at least that’s how she described herself at the Elle Women in Hollywood Awards, held Monday in LA. The Oscar winner joined millions of women who have self-identified as “nasty women” in the wake of Donald Trump’s sexist, disparaging insult to Hillary Clinton during the last presidential debate. Mirren was being honored with the Legend Award at the event. She kicked off a speech by declaring, “To make you proud that you chose to honor me tonight, I am going to be the nastiest of all nasty women,” USA Today reports.
The “Eye in the Sky” actress offered attendees a number of life tips, including advice about how to deal with arrogant, superficial jerks. “Ignore anyone who judges the way you look,” she said, “especially if he or she is some anonymous, miserable creep lurking on the Internet, or is a bloated, small-headed, dinosaur-handed candidate for president.”
Other honorees at the event included Kathy Bates, Amy Adams, Kristen Stewart, Anna Kendrick, Lupita Nyong’o, Felicity Jones, and “How to Get Away with Murder’s” Aja Naomi King. Each of the honorees appear on the cover of Elle’s November issue.
“In the last decade or so… our roles have changed in the world,” said Bates. “We even have a nasty woman about to become leader of the free world.” She quipped, “In a million years, I wouldn’t have dreamed that I would be on the cover of a fashion magazine. Ace Hardware, maybe.”
The AP reports that Nyong’o “was introduced by her former mentor, director Mira Nair, and the actress talked about the experience of becoming a mentor herself.” Nyong’o stars in Nair’s latest film, Disney’s “Queen of Katwe,” but the two actually first crossed paths over a decade ago. The Oscar-winning actress worked as an intern for the filmmaker in Africa.
The “12 Years a Slave” actress said that she was inspired to guide the young actors on the set of “Queen of Katwe” in Uganda, especially the film’s star, Madina Nalwanga. “I learned in the most intimate and personal way how powerfully we can affect young girls with our choices,” Nyong’o shared. She encouraged her fellow attendees to “demonstrate a larger vision of self-worth to those we mentor and teach.” Nyong’o elaborated, “Show young women than building community is stronger than the individual instinct to survive. That it’s not even who gets what piece of the pie, but about creating the pies ourselves and then making more for those in need.”
