LOS ANGELES—By show biz standards, actress Helen Mirren and director Taylor Hackford’s union is one of the long-lasting marriages. Partners since 1986, the celebrity couple married in 1997.
“The great advantage of being married to a grownup is that his sense of ego isn’t caught up in his work,” the actress said of Taylor in a recent interview. Helen costars with Russell Brand in “Arthur,” a remake of the Dudley Moore film about a wealthy overgrown child. So, the talk was about men and boys and her stable relationship with Taylor, who directed “Ray,” the Oscar nominated biopic of the late great singer, Ray Charles.
“Taylor knows who he is as a person independently of his work,” remarked Helen. “He’s the president of the Directors Guild of America, and he’s a successful filmmaker. He mentors a lot of people, so I certainly don’t see myself as more successful.”
“My picture is in the magazines more often, because I’m an actor,” Helen explained. “A long-term relationship deals with moments like these, when this person suddenly is in the news and the other person isn’t—and vice versa. A few years ago, my husband was nominated for an Oscar for ‘Ray,’ a wonderfully successful film. I was thrilled to be by his side, supporting and admiring him along with everyone else. He does the same for me.”
Childish millionaire
“I’m very lucky that I married a very grownup person,” said the actress. “Taylor isn’t infantilized,” Helen said, thinking of the childish millionaire Arthur character. “That doesn’t mean that Taylor doesn’t have that little boy in him. All men do. Incidentally, I think that where men are concerned, all women have a little girl in them, so they need to be looked after, taken care of in a fatherly way. So, I’m not saying that it’s a one-sided thing.”
When does her inner girl express itself? “Usually it expresses itself when it’s pouring rain, and my car has a flat tire,” she answered with a sly grin. “If there’s a man in the car, I’ll pretend that I have no idea how to change a tire. I become very helpless. But, if I’m on my own, I’d get out of the car and do it.” Still smiling, she stressed, “It’s our secret.”
Asked to comment on Russell Brand being quite vocal in his adoration of her in his tome, “Booky Wook 2,” and his stand-up comedy act, Helen, who is often described as a sexy sexagenarian, laughed and replied, “I wasn’t aware of that until we met.”
The two first worked together in director Julie Taymor’s version of “The Tempest.” “Russell and I have a growing friendship,” Helen disclosed. “We don’t hang out, but when we’re together, we really like each other.”
Helen professed that she didn’t get to meet Dudley Moore. “I didn’t quite honestly like the first film,” she admitted. “I know you can’t say that, but I find alcoholism unattractive. I thought Liza Minnelli was great in the role, but I didn’t like what the role made her do, which was enable this guy to finish up being, ‘Okay, I’ll look after you. You can carry on being an alcoholic.’ I don’t find alcoholics interesting or sexy. To me, alcoholics are boring, and they smell horrible.
“I didn’t get the film. I didn’t find it funny. With the new version, I hope it’s more a sense of a young man who isn’t really an addict—he’s just rudderless, and he’s having too much of a good time.”
On when she realized she wanted to be an actress, Helen, who was awarded the title, Dame, in 2003, recounted, “There were two things that happened. First, I saw a production of ‘Hamlet’ when I was about 14 or 15. It was an amateur production, but I was completely mesmerized by the imaginative world of Shakespeare and the theater.
“Then, at school, because I wanted to live in that imaginative world, I started doing little bits of drama. We didn’t have a drama teacher, but we performed plays as part of our English and French Literature classes. I would always put myself forward. I realized that I was quite good at it in my little schoolgirl way. Then, I faced another 10 years of learning how to do it.”
Helen did “Phedre” at the National Theatre in 2009 and is itching to go back to the stage. “I’d like to work in a small theater and do a new play,” she shared. “In a funny way, I have a slight yearning to get back to my roots. I almost feel like I’m starting again.”
What would her last line be when the day comes for her to go to that stage up in the sky? “That’s a good question,” she remarked. With a smile, she said, “My last line to the people standing around my bed would be, ‘It’s going to be your turn next!’”
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