“I hate that word”- When Helen Mirren made her feelings clear about calling people “beautiful"
Dame Helen Mirren is an English actor with a career spanning 60 years. She is a recipient of one Academy Award, four BAFTA Awards, five Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, an Olivier Award, and a Tony Award for the awe-inspiring performances she has delivered throughout her long career.
In a 2015 interview with The Guardian, the critically acclaimed veteran actor made her opinion clear on the word beautiful. When asked does she felt beautiful, she said:
“I hate that word."
Once dubbed as The Sex Queen Of Stratford after being introduced as such in a 1975 television interview by Michael Parkinson, Mirren has always made her annoyance clear at being attributed as such.
Why does Helen Mirren hate the word "beautiful"?
In a 2015 interview with The Guardian's Sali Hughes, Mirren expressed her apathy toward the word 'beautiful.' She said:
“I hate that word. Kate Moss is beautiful, so is David Beckham, and I can appreciate a beautiful girl walking down the street. Young is beautiful. But the majority of us are something else, and I wish there was another word for it.”
She continued:
“Oh no, I definitely don’t look better now than when I was young. Definitely not. Of course I looked better then. The great thing that happens as you age is that you don’t really give a flying fuck. I don’t look so good, but I don’t care.”
In this context, talking about whether the industry has become more accepting of older women, Mirren shared:
“There is profound sexism – the ‘Would you fuck her?’ kind of attitude. On the cinema screen, your face is 10ft high and 6ft wide. It’s huge. And I, as a cinemagoer, like to see beautiful faces up there – it’s a pleasure. But there’s also story and entertainment, and one wants variety in that. You also want, as an audience member, to see people that you recognize and can identify with.”
She believes that change in this attitude will only come, saying:
“When roles for women in real life change, then you will see change in the film industry. If we happen to see a [female] president of the United States, and a world expert on marine biology comes on television and it’s a woman, or the female head of a petroleum company on the news.”
Helen Mirren also jokingly commented on the absurdity of the industry in casting for characters:
“I think what’s galling to me is when you see someone who’s supposed to be a high-level surgeon in a film and she’s being played by a 28-year-old actress. They wouldn’t even be qualified yet, never mind eminent. The more those roles change for women in life, the more people get used to that image – seeing an older woman’s face. They become more familiar with it. It’s not uncharted territory, visually, so it’s not such a shock to the system any more.”
At 79, Helen Mirren is bold and outspoken about the acting industry, its inherent issues, and whether one can be optimistic about change.
Helen Mirren's career explored
With a career spanning over 60 years, Helen Mirren needs no introduction. She started her career in theater at 18 and soon made a name for herself by starring in reputed Broadway productions.
Mirren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in the drama The Queen. She is also known for her other roles in productions like The Madness of King George (1994), The Tempest (2010), Hitchcock (2012), Trumbo (2015), Red (2010), its 2013 sequel, and the Fast & Furious film franchise.
Some of her television works include Prime Suspect (1991–2006), The Passion of Ayn Rand (1999), Elizabeth I (2005), Door to Door (2002), Phil Spector (2013), Catherine the Great (2019), and 1923 (2022).
In 2003, Helen Mirren was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to drama by the Queen.
