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
Jun
22
2017

On Tuesday, Helen Mirren was the recipient of the Monte Carlo TV Festival’s most prestigious award, the Crystal Nymph, which acknowledges a lifetime of outstanding work on television. Though she is now best known as a film actress, Mirren’s television work includes the ground breaking British drama “Prime Suspect” and the miniseries “Elizabeth I” for which combined she has won three Primetime Emmys and four BAFTAs. On Wednesday, Mirren was in France, attending the Cannes Lions Festival as a brand ambassador for beauty giant L’Oreal. “It was about bloody time!” she joked during a talk about landing her L’Oreal ambassadorship. “I thought, at last, there has been a shift in the fashion and beauty industry – I’m talking about age and beauty, but also diversity.” Pictures from the Monte Carlo TV Festival and the Cannes Lions Festival have been added, with many thanks to Maria for contributing many of the pictures. Thanks!



Photo Gallery – Appearances – 2017 – Cannes Lions Festival 2017
Photo Gallery – Appearances – 2017 – 57th Monte Carlo TV Festival – Golden Nymph Awards
Photo Gallery – Appearances – 2017 – 57th Monte Carlo TV Festival – Photocall

May
25
2017

Many thanks to Claudia for the heads-up on this one. As Helen Mirren walked the red carpet Wednesday night at the Chicago International Film Festival’s summer gala at the Loews Hotel in Streeterville, it was clear her thoughts were far away with the residents of Manchester in her English homeland. In an article by the Chicago-Sun Times, when asked for her thoughts on the terrorist attack on people at the Ariana Grande concert, the actress said, “I know Manchester very well. My very first job was in Manchester – in the theater. I long did a television show, ‘Prime Suspect,’ which was completely shot shot in Manchester. So I personally owe Manchester, the city, a great debt. “It’s a great city. It’s an ancient city. It’s a powerful city. The people from Manchester are extraordinarily resilient and are a strong people. This is a city that won’t be cowed or live in fear. As we all know, that sort of terrorism aimed at innocent people — in this case young girls, children really — is horrible. It’s beyond comprehension. All I can say is this: Manchester is a great city filled with great people, and in their pain and their suffering they will overcome it.” Turning to the career achievement award from the festival, being presented jointly to Mirren and her husband and fellow Oscar winner, director Taylor Hackford, Mirren smiled .

“Tonight, obviously, will be reflective, of course. I’ll be very reflective tonight, as I’m up there [on the dais] watching my younger self, doing her thing. However, in our business, we tend to live in the moment, or slightly in the future, thinking about the next gig. “So we don’t dwell on the past, frankly. Once you’ve done something, that’s it. My husband is very similar,” said Mirren, as Hackford nodded in agreement. “We don’t watch our old movies, or things like that. I’m not like Norma Desmond [Gloria Swanson’s famed character in ‘Sunset Boulevard’] up her hill, watching her old movies endlessly. You know, you move on.” Asked her first thoughts about the city hosting her, Mirren said, “That’s simple. Architecture. I first came to Chicago in the late ’60s on a theater tour. I took a train from San Francisco to Chicago — the most amazing train journey. When I arrived, Chicago was the first time I saw a high-rise American city. I hadn’t yet been to New York or anywhere else really. I was blown away by the architecture of Chicago.”

May
23
2017


Helen Mirren brought a touch of gold to the 2017 Stuttering Association for the Young (SAY) Gala. The actress hosted the event alongside fellow actress Kelli O’Hara at NYU Skirball Center on Monday in New York City. The gala was held to honor film director Jeffrey Blitz and football coach Joe Moglia. SAY is a national non-profit organization, “which through summer camp, speech therapy, and creative expression empowers, educates, and supports young people who stutter and the world that surrounds them.” Pictures from the event can be found in the photo gallery.

May
21
2017

Dame Helen Mirren cheered the Tulane University Class of 2017 with a speech that was funny, sometimes bawdy and always heartfelt Saturday (May 20) at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. She told Tulane graduates she knew they would fix the world – and to help with that, she doled out advice, one-liners, a dig at LSU and a drink order: “vodka martini straight up with a bit of lime. The bit of lime is because, you know, I’m a bit of a health fanatic,” she said. She received an honorary degree from the university, as did saxophonist Branford Marsalis, research psychologist Shelley Taylor and civil rights leader Diane Nash. Graduation speeches are supposed to be relatable, she said. So “today’s speech will contain advice for any of you born in England, who decided to become Shakespearian actresses and end up doing nude scenes in 10 films.” She added, “I just mentioned that just to see if any of your fathers are getting out their phones right now to Google me. Dads, stop it. Inappropriate. Put it away.” A pause: “I mean the phone.” In fact, her speech contained ample guidance for a far wider audience, which lapped it up. You can read the whole speech over at the university’s official website, pictures can be found in the photo gallery and the speech is also in the video archive.


May
13
2017

On Friday, Helen Mirren donned academic cap and gown for the traditional ‘hooding’ ceremony in Los Angeles, which funnyman Will Ferrell co-hosted with a comical commencement speech. Ferrell , who graduated from USC in 1990 with a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Information, poked fun at the Oscar winner, joking he still loses out on roles to the British actress. “The most painful one was losing the role of Queen Elizabeth in The Queen,” he quipped. “Apparently, it came down to myself and Helen Mirren. The rest is history.” Ferrell also serenaded Mirren, university staff and the graduating students with his rendition of Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You. Pictures from the commencement ceremonies have been added to the photo gallery.


Feb
23
2017

First I forgot to add Helen’s public appearances from last week to the photo gallery – and then I forgot to update them here. So, better late than never, Helen has been out and about a lot this last week with appearances at the 16th Annual Movies For Grownups Awards honoring fellow co-star Morgan Freeman, MusiCares Person of the Year Honoring Tom Petty and the Hollywood premiere for “The Great Wall”. Enjoy the new pictures.



Photo Gallery – Appearances – 2017 – “The Great Wall” Hollywood Premiere
Photo Gallery – Appearances – 2017 – MusiCares Person of the Year Honoring Tom Petty
Photo Gallery – Appearances – 2017 – 16th Annual Movies For Grownups Awards

Feb
05
2017

On Saturday, Helen Mirren and Taylor Hackford attended the 69th Annual Directors Guild Of America Awards. Helen took the stage to present one of the awards of the night in the television category to “Game of Thrones”‘ director Miguel Sapochnik. Pictures from the red carpet, show and press room have been added to the photo gallery.


Feb
05
2017

Lots of additional pictures from January’s Women’s March in New York have been added to the photo gallery, alongside new pictures from the January 31 screening by the Cinema Society of Taylor Hackford’s new film “The Comedian”, starring Robert De Niro. Click any of the previews below to watch the new pictures.


Jan
22
2017


Helen Mirren took part in New York’s Women’s March on Saturday at an impromptu rally outside One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza in the Big Apple. Mirren stood at the event’s wooden podium as she held the mic in her hand to deliver an awe-inspiring address. Briefly speaking to the crowd infront of her, she declared: ‘I came on the subway, and I just followed the crowd because I knew you knew where you were all going. It was amazing just to be on the subway was a great experience, all I want to say is today I am a New Yorker.” Admiring the huge turnout for the march, she took to her social media to document the historic day, captioning one of her snaps out on the streets amongst her fellow females: ‘This is amazing!’ Joining her at the march was actresses Cynthia Nixon, Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie Perez and Taylor Schilling. New York’s march was one of 600 protests held all over the globe in solidarity with women in America, who are worried that Trump’s inauguration threatens issues such as abortion, diversity and climate change. The marches around the world attracted numerous celebrities including Scarlett Johansson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emma Watson, Ashley Judd, Cher, America Ferrera, Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Yoko Ono and Amy Schumer. Some 2.2 million people are believed to have marched to promote women’s and human rights.

Dec
16
2016

On Wednesday, the cast and crew of “Collateral Beauty” were present at the film’s London premiere. Afterwards, Helen Mirren and Will Smith taped an appearance on The Graham Norton Show. Earlier that day, press junkets were filmed, so check back later for lots of great video additions. For now, enjoy the pictures from the London premiere.