Welcome to The Helen Mirren Archives, your premiere web resource on the British actress. Best known for her performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, "Prime Suspect" and her Oscar-winning role in "The Queen", Helen Mirren is one of the world's most eminent actors today. This unofficial fansite provides you with all latest news, photos and videos on her past and present projects.  Enjoy your stay.
Celebrating
10 years
on the web
Mar
29
2024

Last Sunday, Helen Mirren inaugurated the new headquarters of Spazio Teatro – Center for Dramatic and Performing Arts” in the historic building of the former Bianco Distillery, in via Campi 46. An evening that celebrates with this new passage the first 5 years of activity of the school directed by the sisters Rosangela and Gloria Giurgola, theater director and soprano, who returned to Salento after ten years living abroad due to study and work commitments. Mirren accepted the invitation of the Giurgola sisters and take part in the evening which marks the start of the new life of the school which currently counts 45 students from various municipalities in the north and south of Salento, enrolled in acting, theatre-dance, singing, music and scenography courses. Unfortunately, no press pictures have been released from the event, but you can find two videos in the video archive.

Related Media

Video Archive – Public Appearances – Spazio Teatro’s Center for Dramatic and Performing Arts (2024)

Mar
19
2024

The Queen and Tony Blair sat down with ITV News yesterday for an interview about the 100th NT Live performance, the Sheen-starring “Nye”. Mirren is not part of the project, but a passionate supporter of the National Theatre. As ITV writes, “A new production starring Michael Sheen takes the audience on a “surreal and spectacular journey through the life and legacy of the man who transformed Britain’s welfare state”, according to the National Theatre. “The vision that grew out of that has to be reimagined now because the NHS is in all kinds of difficulties and whether that’s about underfunding or whatever it might be it has to be reimagined for now and for the future to move on,” Mr Sheen said. But, as he tells ITV News, the timeliness of the show’s release has taken on extra importance given the modern-day pressures felt by the NHS and, what he feels, is the need for radical change. The clip can be found in the video archive, screencaptures have been added to the photo gallery.

Related Media

Photo Gallery – TV & Online Appearances – 2024 – ITV News (March 18, 2024)
Video Archive – Public Appearances – ITV News (2024)

Mar
13
2024

Yesterday, Helen Mirren and husband Taylor Hackford were among the many celebrity guests at a reception to celebrate International Women’s Day and mark the end of the Women of the World (WOW) Girls Festival Bus tour at Buckingham Palace. A couple of pictures from the event have been added to the photo gallery.

Related Media

Photo Gallery – Public Appearances – 2024 – Reception to Celebrate International Women’s Day

Mar
10
2024

According to Cineuropa, production on the thriller “Switzerland”, in which Helen Mirren will be portraying famed author Patricia Highsmith, is moving along. The initial announcement of the project was released in February of last year. Now, Dutch filmmaker Anton Corbijn, known for unique and award-winning feature films like Control, The American or A Most Wanted Man, is preparing to shoot the film. Parts of it will be filmed in different parts of the country of the same name. Production is expected to begin between autumn and winter 2024. Shooting will take place in several places, among them the German-speaking city of Zurich in the East of Switzerland and the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino in the South. The Swiss-British co-production will see a fictional version of author Patricia Highsmith involved in a stressful relationship with her ambitious literary agent. The US American author Highsmith, spent the last days of her life in Switzerland. Alden Ehrenreich will be at her side in the role of her agent. The script for the film was written by Australian author Joanna Murray Smith and promises a mixture of suspense and psychological depth, reflecting Highsmith’s haunting literary style. Switzerland is a collaboration between the production company Zurich Avenue by Karl Spoerri and Brouhaha Entertainment by Gabrielle Tana. Spoerri says: “Switzerland as a film location plays a crucial role in Switzerland. Zurich Avenue is delighted to bring the country’s unique landscapes and cultural landmarks to life in this international production. Switzerland is not only intended to be a gripping thriller, but also a visual event that pays tribute to the beauty of our country.” He adds: “It is a great honour for Zurich Avenue to work with Anton Corbijn, Helen Mirren and Gabrielle Tana. We are looking for universal stories with strong characters – often inspired by true events – that resonate globally. Switzerland fits perfectly with our vision.”

Mar
07
2024

Dame Helen Mirren and pop star Kylie Minogue are among eight famous women who have had dolls made in their likeness to mark the beloved toy’s 65th anniversary year and to recognize their achievements as “Female Storytellers”. Helen’s doll is dressed in a cornflower blue outfit with matching hair, which is a recreation of a gown she wore on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival in France last year and the Barbie is clutching an Oscar statuette representing her Best Actress win for “The Queen”. As well as Helen and Kylie Minogue, other dolls have been made for singer Shania Twain, actress Viola Davis and model Nicole Fujita as well as comedian/activist Enissa Amani, moviemaker Lila Aviles and content creator Maira Gomez.

It’s a very special thing and something I can add to my list of my favorite achievements – becoming a Dame of the British Empire, having an Oscar, having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and having my own Barbie. The intricacy and detail of the doll is extraordinary; I love that the Barbie doll is wearing one of my favourite ever red carpet looks, and it was the first time I’d ever had blue hair, and it felt so exciting. I like to embrace theatrical fashion and the joy that having fun with fashion can bring, and I think that this joy should be age-less. And the cherry on top of the cake is my doll having a miniature Oscar. It is an absolutely perfect reproduction.

Related Media

Photo Gallery – Public Appearances – 2024 – Helen Mirren receives Barbie Doll
Video Archive – Miscellaneous – Helen Mirren receives Barbie Doll by Mattel (2024)

Mar
07
2024

Earlier this week, Helen Mirren has continued to raise awareness of the decline of Salento’s olive trees that populate the Apulian countryside. She taped a PSA for the cause in Tricase’s Piazza Pisanelli and also appeared on the Italien talkshow Splendida cornice, on February 29. “The people of Puglia must fight this catastrophe united, without arguing among themselves anymore, to make their voice heard in Europe and to preserve the poetry of this land. Because Puglia is a poem,” Mirren said during the taping of the PSA. “I am proud to be able to get her hands dirty with the Salento land, to love the sun, the sea and the wind, and above all this extraordinary community, of great humanity and a sense of welcome, from which I hope to feel more and more accepted. Pictures and screencaptures from the PSA and her talkshow appearance have been added to the photo gallery.

Related Media

Photo Gallery – Public Appearances – 2024 – Taping of PSA to Fight Xylella
Photo Gallery – TV & Online Appearances – 2024 – Splendida cornice (February 29, 2024)
Video Archive – News Segments – Quotidiano di Puglia (2024)
Video Archive – Talkshows – Splendida cornice (2024)

Feb
23
2024

Amid the current surge of antisemitism on campuses, online, and on streets worldwide, supporters of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will come together with new resolve as it presents the “2024 Western Region Tribute Dinner: Together We Can Do More” on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The Western Region Tribute Dinner will honor Helen Mirren, via a prerecorded montage and acceptance speech, and Moses Libitzky, in person, during the program with the Museum’s National Leadership Award for their role in Holocaust education and support of the Museum’s mission to educate people about the Holocaust and consequences of unchecked antisemitism and hate. In its first 30 years, the Museum has welcomed close to 48 million visitors from all over the world, including more than 100 heads of state and millions of schoolchildren. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum presents “2024 Western Region Tribute Dinner: Together We Can Do More” on Tuesday, March 12 with a reception at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. at The Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Feb
20
2024

At Tuesday’s Cinema for Peace Gala at the 74th Berlin Film Festival, the honorary Dove of Cinema for Peace award was given to director Guy Nattiv and Helen Mirren for their joint work in the 2023 film “Golda”, the historical biopic Nattiv directed starring Mirren as renowned Israeli prime minister Golda Meir during the Yom Kippur War. It was a first for the award, given against the backdrop of rising antisemitism around the world following the Hamas attack of October 7, when terrorists killed some 1,200 people and abducted 253 to Gaza from Israel’s border communities. The award was presented to Nattiv and Mirren onstage in Berlin by 102-year-old Holocaust survivor Margot Friedlander. “Golda” also won the main prize for Cinema for Peace, which it shared with “One Life” and “The Zone Of Interest”. Pictures from the gala have been added to the photo gallery.

Related Media

Photo Gallery – Public Appearances – 2024 – 74th Berlin Film Festival – Cinema for Peace Gala

Feb
16
2024

Helen Mirren was honored at the 37th annual American Cinematheque Awards on Thursday night, with a star-studded list of presenters on hand to celebrate the actress’ achievements both on screen and off. Harrison Ford, Vin Diesel, Patrick Stewart, Bryan Cranston, Pierce Brosnan, Alan Cumming, Andrea Riseborough and Mirren’s husband Taylor Hackford toasted the star at the event, which is an annual fundraiser for the American Cinematheque that supports its programming at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, Los Feliz 3 Theatre in Los Feliz and Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. A full article on the evening and the many famous guests can be read over at The Hollywood Reporter. Pictures have been added to the photo gallery.

Related Media

Photo Gallery – Public Appearances – 2024 – 37th Annual American Cinematheque Awards

Feb
11
2024

On Saturday, Helen Mirren and husband Taylor Hackford attended the 76th Annual Directors Guild Awards. Hackford served as the president for the organization from 2009 and 2012. Pictures from the event have been added to the photo gallery.

Related Media

Photo Gallery – Public Appearances – 2024 – 76th Annual Directors Guild Awards