The full video interview with Helen Mirren can be watched here. Helen Mirren loves playing women with power. She won an Oscar for playing Elizabeth II in “The Queen,” and a Tony for playing her again in another Peter Morgan drama, “The Audience.” In the interview above, we Zoomed with the actress, situated in the spare bedroom of the Northern California home she shares with husband Taylor Hackford, to dig into her “Catherine the Great” for HBO. Set in opulent 18th Century Russia, the four-hour limited series, written by Nigel Williams (“Elizabeth I”) and directed by Philip Martin (“The Crown”), is jam-packed with romance, court intrigue and the theater of politics. Of all the queens she’s played, from Shakespeare’s Titania to Cleopatra, “they don’t come any more powerful than Catherine the Great,” said Mirren. “It’s the most extraordinary story of a young woman having the courage and intelligence and tenacity and intellect to be able to say, ‘I can do this, run this complex difficult country.’ Then of course after she died, everything she accomplished, with incredible success, everything she achieved, her son tried to destroy.” Powerful men maligned her, damaging her reputation. “It was mostly the lies spread about her by Frederick the Great,” said Mirren, “who hated her because she was powerful and successful and she stood up to him. He couldn’t stand that she was woman who was successful.”

Dame Helen Mirren and David Walliams are offering fans the chance to win 15-minute video-calls with them to raise money for Barnardo’s. They have joined the children’s charity for its 15 Minutes With Fame prize draw, raising money to help continue its work during the coronavirus pandemic. Winners will be able to quiz Dame Helen about her life and work, or have comedian and children’s author Walliams read a bedtime story. They join previously announced names including Dame Emma Thompson, Russell Howard, Catherine Tate, Jamie Vardy and Lennie James. Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan said: “The vulnerable children Barnardo’s supports need us now more than ever. “We’re working round the clock to adapt our vital services, so we can continue to help children and families – whether face to face, on the phone or through an app. “But we cannot do this alone, and with our shops closed and major events cancelled, we’re more reliant than ever on the generosity of our friends and supporters, as well as the British public. “This is why I’m so grateful to our fantastic ambassadors and supporters, and to everyone bidding for 15 Minutes With Fame. “The funds raised will help make sure we can support vulnerable children through this crisis.” Each entry to the draw costs £5 and all proceeds go to the Barnardo’s emergency appeal. More information is available at https://www.givergy.com/charity/barnardos.

Dame Helen Mirren thanked NHS nurses on Instagram to mark International Nurses Day on Tuesday (12 May), using L’Oreal’s famous phrase, “Because you’re worth it” in her tribute. In the video, she thanked healthcare workers for everything they have been doing throughout the coronavirus pandemic. She said: “Today is International Nurses Day. Now, I work for L’Oreal and maybe some of you may know they have the famous phrase, ‘Because you’re worth it’. Well, today of all days, we can say with our hands on our hearts, truthfully, and sincerely, to the nurses, you are worth it. “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done and for everything you will be doing in the future.” Mirren then went on to suggest that, if nurses come to negotiate their salaries, they should also take inspiration from the L’Oreal catchphrase. She added: “And, in the future, when you come to negotiate your pay rises, you can say altogether, very loudly, ‘Because we’re worth it.'”

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Ein Beitrag geteilt von Helen Mirren (@helenmirren) am Mai 12, 2020 um 10:15 PDT

On May 07, 2020, Dame Helen Mirren appeared on “Front Row Late: Lockdown Culture with Mary Beard” from her home to read the John Donne poem “The Sun Rising”. With cultural institutions around the country closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Mary Beard presents from her study. In the episode, Mary discusses the power of poetry in a time of pandemic, with Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke, poet Lemn Sissay and historian David Olusoga. There were special poetry performances from Mirren and the so-called poet laureate of Twitter, Brian Bilston, plus historian Simon Schama tells Mary why the 17th century poet John Donne is a poet for today’s times. If you live within the United Kingdom, you can watch the episode on the BBC 2‘s website.

The National Theatre today launches its National Theatre at Home Quiz, to be played from home featuring familiar faces from the world of stage and screen as the quizmasters. Each quiz will include rounds of five questions on a wide variety of topics. On the final Monday of each month people will be able join the virtual quiz directly from their homes via the NT’s YouTube channel and Facebook page live at 7pm BST (2pm EST). The first quiz will be 27 April with quizmasters Dame Helen Mirren, Sir Lenny Henry, Lesley Manville, and Sir Ian McKellen asking questions on topics including history, sport, nature, and of course, The National Theatre.

Helen Mirren couldn’t be busier right now as a L’Oreal Paris ambassador. Her appearance with Viola Davis last week to launch the Age Perfect Cosmetics line has attracted interviews in Allure, Grazia, Vanity Fair and People Magazine. Two new commercials with Helen and Viola have been released as well for the campaign. They have been added to the video archive, alongside some other “Age Perfect” commercials from 2019. And to celebrate the International Women’s Day, L’Oreal Paris and The Prince’s Trust have invited their ambassadors to tell what self-worth means to them and to celebrate the women in their lives who empower them in their moments of self-doubt in a new promotional video. All clips and screencaptures have been added to the archives. Have a look at the complete list below.

Here comes another Berlin related update, and probably the final one, since all related video interviews from the festival have been added to the video archive (some have been posted last week already, in case you missed ’em). Several German broadcasters have aired reports on Helen receiving the Honorary Golden Bear and talked with her about the award and her career. For a complete overview of all added videos, have a look below. Enjoy watching.

The first trailer for Fast & Furious 9, i.e. F9, dropped earlier today, and while the preview hooked people in by revealing that John Cena is playing Dom Tortetto’s brother, Jakob, the biggest surprise was saved for the very end with a surprise appearance from Sung Kang’s Han Lue. Thought to have been killed by Deckard Shaw, Han is very much alive and will be reuniting with his car-loving family in the next Fast & Furious installment. Along with Han Lue, Fast & Furious 9 features the return of Jordan Brewster’s Mia Toretto, Charlize Theron’s Cipher, Helen Mirren’s Magdalene Shaw, Lucas Black’s Sean Boswell and Jason Tobin’s Earl (who was last seen in Tokyo Drift). Along with John Cena’s Jakob, the movie will feature new characters played by Michael Rooker, Cardi B, Finn Cole, Anna Sawai, Vinnie Bennett, Oduna and Francis Ngannou. F9 races into theaters on May 22.

Dame Helen Mirren and Olivia Colman have landed new roles as endangered sea turtles in a film aimed at raising awareness of the crisis facing the world’s oceans. The stars, both famous for playing the Queen, voice the parts for Turtle Journey, made by Wallace And Gromit creators Aardman in collaboration with Greenpeace. The animated short depicts a family of turtles facing oil drilling, plastic pollution and industrial fishing as they try to get home. Dame Helen, who plays the family’s grandmother, expressed sadness that her generation would leave future ones a damaged planet “which has already lost so much of the biodiversity that makes it special”. “During my lifetime, I’ve seen nature being destroyed on an unimaginable scale by human activity,” Dame Helen said. “However, we have a chance to do something now and leave a legacy of properly protected oceans to all the people who come after us. “We can’t bring back what we’ve already lost, but we can protect what we still have. I hope this film will help to make more people realise the ocean is worth protecting, and inspires us to act before it’s too late.” Greenpeace has released the short film as part of its push for a new Global Ocean Treaty at the UN summit and the publication of its report Turtles Under Threat.

Yesterday, Helen Mirren made her first appearance for 2020 at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards. Unfortunately, she didn’t win for “Catherine the Great” – the Golden Globe went to Olivia Colman for “The Crown”, so at least the awards stays in the “Queen” family. Nevertheless, Helen took the stage with Antonio Banderas to present the award for Best Director to fellow Brit Sam Mendes. Pictures from the arrivals, show and after-party have been added to the photo gallery. Two red carpet interviews from Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight have been added to the video archive as well.