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
May
17
2020

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.'”

Related Media

Video Archive – Miscellaneous – Instagram: Helen Mirren thanks NHS nurses (2020)

May
17
2020

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.

Related Media

Video Archive – Television Specials – Front Row Late: Lockdown Culture with Mary Beard (2020)

Apr
27
2020

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.

Mar
07
2020

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.


Mar
06
2020

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.


Related Media

Video Archive – Public Appearances – 2020 – Berlin Film Festival – Ceremony
Video Archive – Public Appearances – 2020 – Berlin Film Festival – Press Conference
Video Archive – Public Appearances – 2020 – Berlin Film Festival – Berlinale Talents Conversation
Video Archive – News Segments – Leute Heute (February 28, 2020)
Video Archive – News Segments – Aspekte (February 28, 2020)
Video Archive – News Segments – Deutsche Welle Kultur (February 28, 2020)

Feb
01
2020

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.

Jan
15
2020

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.

Jan
06
2020

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.



Related Media

Photo Gallery – Public Appearances – 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards – Arrivals
Photo Gallery – Public Appearances – 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards – Show
Photo Gallery – Public Appearances – 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards – After-Party
Photo Gallery – Television Appearances Access Hollywood (January 05, 2020)
Photo Gallery – Television Appearances Entertainment Tonight (January 05, 2020)

Nov
16
2019

Dame Helen Mirren greets me enthusiastically on the phone from New York City after a day of promotion for her latest thriller, The Good Liar, in anticipation of digitally featuring as Flaunt’s first Annual Icon. I’m over 3000 miles away in Manchester, England. The first thing Mirren wants to talk about is not her current film, nor her other high-profile role in HBO’s Catherine the Great which is currently airing, but Manchester—the city where she arrived as a young actress in 1965. Mirren eventually returned to the city 26-years-later for her life-changing, BAFTA and Emmy winning performance as Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect. “I owe Manchester a great deal,” Mirren says fondly. “I had my very first professional job in Manchester and of course Prime Suspect came out of Manchester and it was filmed there too. I hold it very close to my heart.” For a time in the late 1960s, Manchester was a home-away-from-home for Mirren as she appeared in several Braham Murray-directed plays at the city’s Century Theatre. Her initial route in came via the UK’s Youth Theatre scheme where those without the means to afford astronomical drama school fees were supported into a career in the arts via a vocational route. “I was dying to go to RADA but I couldn’t,” Mirren says, sadly. Yet her talents were quickly spotted: months later she was hired by the Royal Shakespeare Company where she soon became one of the company’s most acclaimed actors. Eventually, Mirren appeared on prime-time British television where her gritty portrayal of the ambitious Tennison—one of the first female detective chief inspectors of the metropolitan police—changed her career forever: it changed the face of women on screen forever too. The complete article can be read over at Flaunt Magazine.

Nov
16
2019

A couple more video interviews have been released over the last couple of days to promote the theatrical release of “The Good Liar” in the United States. Helen Mirren visited “Live with Kelly & Ryan” to talk about the film and joined Ian McKellen for a gondola ride at Central Park with CBS This Morning. Also, more press junket interviews have been added to the video archive. Screencaptures from most interviews have been added to the photo gallery as well.

Related Media

Video Archive – Talkshows – Live with Kelly & Ryan (2019)
Video Archive – News Segments – Entertainment Tonight Canada (2019)
Video Archive – News Segments – CBS This Morning (2019)