Dame Helen Mirren collects awards for her stellar performances like some people collect pennies. The English actor has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.
Mirren was born Helen Lydia Mironoff in Chiswick, West London to parents of Russian and English origins. Her paternal grandfather was a diplomat turned cab driver and her father was a civil servant in the Ministry of Transport. Her mother was the 13th of 14 children born to a butcher whose father had been the butcher to Queen Victoria.
At age eighteen, she auditioned for the National Youth Theatre and was accepted. By the time she was 20, she was Cleopatra in the NYT production of Antony and Cleopatra at the Old Vic, which led to her signing with the agent Al Parker. During her lengthy career, Mirren has numerous stage performances to her credit and also has appeared in a large number of films. She is the only actress who managed to get both Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Elizabeth II roles.
Mirren is well-known for her role as detective Jane Tennison in the widely viewed Prime Suspect, a multiple award-winning television drama that was noted for its high quality, higher popularity and its unique format, in that it ran for seven seasons in seven extended multi-act episodes rather than in a traditional seasonal schedule. Her portrayal of Tennison won her three consecutive BAFTA awards for Best Actress between 1992 and 1994.Helen Mirren married American director Taylor Hackford (her partner since 1986) on 31 December 1997, his 53rd birthday. It is her first marriage, and his third (he has two children from his previous marriages). She has no children and says she has "no maternal instinct whatsoever."
On 5 December 2003, she was invested as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In September 2007, her autobiography, In the Frame: My Life in Words and Pictures, was published in the UK. In 1990, Mirren stated in an interview that she is an atheist.
In a GQ interview in 2008, Mirren stated she had been date raped as a student and had often taken cocaine at parties during the 1980s. She stopped using the drug after reading that Klaus Barbie made a living from cocaine dealing.
On 11 May 2010, Mirren attended the unveiling of her waxwork at Madame Tussauds London. The figure reportedly cost £150,000 to make and took four months to complete.
Quotes:
- "I think of myself as being a bit of a wimp deep down -- a bourgeois wimp -- and I'm fighting that. I think all Brits are maybe."
- "Well, the brutality of the system is terrifying because it is seen just as a commercial venture and actors and actresses are seen as just a commodity. That's an accepted reality in Hollywood. That's why I don't work there. I can't accept that and they can't accept me. We don't fit."
The regal actress replies to fan queries:
Question: What was the most difficult point in your career?
Mirren: I think probably in my mid-30s which was the one time really when it should have been the best because I was experienced and ready, and the kind of work I wanted to do just didn't come my way. But you know, you just carry on...regardless. i would just do whatever work came my way.
Question: Do you think it's important for celebrities to contribute their two cents on political, ethical and economic problems?
Mirren: I've used my voice to publicize certain issues. I've been involved with Oxfam on the proliferation of the illegal sale of small arms throughout the world, which is causing such, such devestation, and the war in northern Uganda. The only way you can sometimes garner attention is by selling someone like me as a front person.
Question: You have a tatto on your hand. What is it, and why did you get it?
Mirren: The short answer is, I got drunk. It's a South American Indian sign.
0 comments:
Post a Comment