Dame Helen Lydia Mirren, DBE (born Helen Lydia Mironoff on 26 July 1945 in London) is an English actress of Russian descent.
Mirren favors characters that are bold and ballsy, much like her own personality, in ways that some compare to Kate Winslet. This has historically included her not being shy to shuck her clothes (also like Winslet); in 2010's Love Ranch, she became the first major actor to appear nude on film in six different decadesnote .
Mirren is the only actress in history to have portrayed both Queens Elizabeth (Elizabeth I in the miniseries Elizabeth I, Elizabeth II in The Queen and in the play The Audience). She won an Emmy for the former and an Oscar and a Tony Award for the latter. On the subject of awards, she is also the only performer in history to achieve both the American and British "Triple Crown of Acting"note .
Mirren is one of the grandes dames of the English stage, alongside Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, and Emma Thompson. Like many of her British cohorts, Mirren put in a stint at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
She is of Russian descent; her grandfather was a Tsarist aristocrat who was stranded in London after the Bolshevik Revolution. Her birth name is Helen Lydia Mironoff, which her father anglicised to Mirren in the 1950s. While she does not speak Russian, she is fluent in French. Tania Mallet, who played Tilly Masterson in Goldfinger, was her cousin.
Mirren has been married to American director Taylor Hackford since 1997. She is also noted for her exquisite taste in clothes, especially come awards season.
Helen Mirren's more important roles include:
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968) as Hermia
- Age of Consent (1969) as Cora Ryan
- Savage Messiah (1972) as Gosh Boyle
- O Lucky Man! (1973) as Patricia / casting call receptionist
- Play for Today (1979, 1982) as Angela, Celia
- Caligula (1979) as Caesonia
- The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980) as Alice Rage
- The Long Good Friday (1980) as Victoria
- Excalibur (1981) as Morgana le Fay
- 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984) as Tanya Kirbuk
- White Nights (1985) as Galina Ivanova
- The Twilight Zone (1985) as Maddie Duncan
- The Mosquito Coast (1986) as Margot "Mother" Fox
- Faerie Tale Theatre (1987) as Princess Emilia
- The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989) as Georgina Spica
- Prime Suspect (1991-93, 1995-96, 2003, 2006) as DCI Jane Tennison
- Where Angels Fear to Tread (1991) as Lilia Herriton
- The Madness of King George (1994) as Queen Charlotte
- The Snow Queen (1995) as Snow Queen (voice)
- The Prince of Egypt (1998) as Queen Tuya (voice)
- Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999) as Mrs. Eve Tingle
- Greenfingers (2000) as Georgina Woodhouse
- The Pledge (2001) as Doctor
- Last Orders (2001) as Amy Dodds
- Gosford Park (2001) as Mrs. Wilson
- Calendar Girls (2003) as Chris Harper
- Frasier (2004) as Babette the Caller (voice)
- Raising Helen (2004) as Dominique
- Third Watch (2005) as Annie Foster
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) as Deep Thought (voice)
- Shadowboxer (2005) as Rose
- Elizabeth I (2005) as Elizabeth I
- The Queen (2006) as Elizabeth II
- National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (2007) as Emily Appleton
- Inkheart (2008) as Elinor Loredan
- State of Play (2009) as Cameron Lynne
- The Debt (2010) as Rachel Singer
- The Tempest (2010) as Prospera
- Brighton Rock (2010) as Ida
- Legend Of The Guardians The Owls Of Ga Hoole (2010) as Nyra (voice)
- Red (2010) as Victoria Winslow
- Arthur (2011) as Lillian Hobson
- Glee (2012) as Becky's Inner Voice (voice)
- Hitchcock (2012) as Alma Reville
- Monsters University (2013) as Dean Abigail Hardscrabble (voice)
- The Audience (2013) as Elizabeth II
- Woman in Gold (2015) as Maria Altmann
- Eye in the Sky (2015) as Colonel Katherine Powell
- Trumbo (2015) as Hedda Hopper
- Collateral Beauty (2016) as Brigitte
- The Fast and the Furious as Magdalene "Queenie" Shaw
- The Fate of the Furious (2017)
- Hobbs & Shaw (2019)
- F9 (2021)
- Fast X (2023)
- Winchester (2018) as Sarah Winchester
- The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018) as Mother Ginger
- Anna (2019) as Olga
- Catherine the Great (2019) as Catherine the Great
- The One and Only Ivan (2020) as Snickers (voice)
- When Nature Calls (2021) as Narrator (voice)
- Human Resources (2022-present) as Rita St. Withers (voice)
- Big Mouth (2022-present)
- 1923 (2022-present) as Cara Dutton
- SHAZAM! Fury of the Gods (2023) as Hespera
- Barbie (2023) as the Narrator
- Golda (2023) as Golda Meir
Tropes associated with Helen Mirren:
- Ability over Appearance: Three times a character has been changed from a man to a woman so that Helen could star - Eye in the Sky, The Tempest (2010) and the 2011 remake of Arthur.
- Ascended Fangirl: Famously got her recurring role as Magdalene Shaw in the The Fast and the Furious series as a result of being a huge fan of the movies, and literally begging Vin Diesel
to be cast. - Awesome, Dear Boy:
- She loved playing a machine-gun-wielding Action Girl in Red (2010) so much that she agreed to appear in any potential sequel immediately. There was a sequel, and she did star in it.
- Said that she'd love to do a film in The Fast and the Furious because it looks like so much fun. She got her wish and started playing a recurring role in Fast 8.
- Beauty Inversion: She is dressed down considerably as the housekeeper Mrs Wilson Gosford Park.
- Best Known for the Fanservice:
- Age of Consent is known for her appearing topless as Norman Lindsey's model.
- Caligula likewise is remembered for her nudity. There's more than just hers, but she is the most famous of the actors who appear nude.
- Calendar Girls too, although nudity is a huge plot point.
- Celebrity Voice Actor: Invoked in The Prince of Egypt, Monsters University. She was also nearly in The Lion King (1994).
- Dawson Casting:
- In her debut film Age of Consent she plays a teenager at the age of twenty-two.
- At 73 she played Catherine the Great, from age 44 to her death at 67.
- Fake American: Played with in Shadowboxer. She has an American accent, but Rose says "when I came to this country" - which suggests she is an English woman who has lost her accent over the years.
- Gender Flip: In Arthur (1981) (2011) and The Tempest (2010). Remarkably and coincidentally both roles were previously played by the same man, John Gielgud. Also remarkably and coincidentally, both films costar Russell Brand.
- Historical Beauty Upgrade: Catherine the Great was rather obese in her later life, but Helen Mirren remains perfectly slim throughout the miniseries.
- Ms. Fanservice: Starting with her first film, Age of Consent, in which she's naked a whole bunch. Continued to be this trope in many more films. She once said she's "known for getting my kit off."
- Non-Singing Voice: Her singing is dubbed in The Prince of Egypt. On the other hand...
- Poor Man's Substitute: It's something of a Running Gag to get Helen to fill in for Elizabeth II when she's not around. She did a parody of the Queen's Christmas Day speech on Graham Norton.
- Reality Subtext:
- Her crying during Calendar Girls' funeral scenes came from the fact that she found out her brother had died of cancer.
- She was cast opposite Nicol Williamson in Excalibur because John Boorman knew they didn't like each other and thought their natural animosity would be perfect. Through working on the film they became good friends.
- Star-Making Role: She was already a respected stage actor but Excalibur proved to be this for her film career.
- Wag the Director: Her role in The Long Good Friday was initially a very thin and generic love interest role, and she credits co-star Bob Hoskins backing her up in her efforts to beef the part up in giving her the courage to stick with it and make sure they made it in.
