Helen of joy

Most people age gracefully. At least that is what they believe, and it is seconded by others. But British actress Helen Mirren thinks differently. As she touches 80, she says she has been “ageing with fun”. Speaking recently to a magazine, Mirren said she felt humiliated when her friends and others said that she looked her age.

“I am ageing with fun, with commitment, but not gracefully. Who cares about graceful? We just do grow older, there’s no way you can escape that. You have to grow up with your own body, your own face and the way it changes. It’s not always easy but it is inevitable. You have to learn to accept it,” OK! magazine reported.

Admittedly, Mirren is no Helen of Troy. Nor is she even a patch on the fantastically news-attracting Elizabeth Taylor, whose several marriages — eight in all to seven men, twice to Richard Burton alone — were the chatter of Hollywood once upon a time, and fabulous fodder for gossip mills.

But, there is something about Helen that defies definition.

She was born Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov on July 26, 1945, in Hammersmith district of London to an English mum and Russian dad. The mother, Kathleen, came from a working-class family, the 13th of 14 children. Her father was a butcher and so was her grandfather, who supplied meat to Queen Victoria. Helen was a blend of both nobility and the commoners: the father came from Russian nobility. So, Helen grew up in a fairly balanced atmosphere. She had seen luxury and poverty, and was admirably rounded. And her career spoke this all too clearly.

With her acting stretching over six decades, she has been an achiever. An Oscar, Emmy awards, a Tony trophy, a Laurence Olivier prize and many BAFTA accolades later, the actress got yet another feather in her cap when the Queen of England made Helen a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Of the many movies I have seen of Helen, some have sparkled. ‘The Queen’ (2006) is often described as her best work. Helmed by Stephen Frears (‘Philomena’, ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’) and penned by Peter Morgan, the docudrama told us the tragic and heartrending months after the death of Princess Diana in a Paris car crash. Although the work focused on the unimaginable public grief this tragedy evoked, the British monarchy was keen to keep it strictly private.

The film pushed the monarchy into unimaginable and unwelcome limelight, provoking controversies. There was confusion over Diana’s status. She was by then estranged from Prince Charles, and Queen Elizabeth was very unhappy with this. In any case, she had never really welcomed Diana into the royal fold.

The screen drama may not have attained any great height, but it got Helen critical and popular acclaim. Helen was invited for dinner at the Buckingham Palace, which she had to decline because of filming schedules in Hollywood.

Currently streaming on Paramount, ‘MobLand’ is highly entertaining, with Helen carrying the series on her shoulders. Created by Ronan Bennett and directed in part by Guy Ritchie, the show has Helen essaying Maeve Harrigan along with luminaries such as Pierce Brosnan and Paddy Considine. Martini in hand (which reminded me of author Barbara Cartland, whose ginger ale in hand was iconic), Maeve plays a psychopath pushing her husband (Brosnan) into deeper crime.

Interestingly, it was another TV series that propelled Helen into stardom. She disappeared into the character of Jane Tennison in BBC’s 1990s’ ‘Prime Suspect’. There was so much of drama in it that it was simply mind-boggling. She was a hard-drinking, chain-smoking sleuth with scandalous habits and social skills that sucked.

‘Prime Suspect’ was far ahead of its time for its portrayal of a female detective in a male-dominated police force. Seven brief series between 1991 and 2006 infused life into her character — complex and groundbreaking. This became a kind of template for the women characters that followed. And this was across genres.

Today, between yoga and sports, Helen is busy with her next outing, ‘The Thursday Murder Club’, which is set to drop on Netflix on August 28. Based on a popular book, it also features Brosnan, the former 007, now floating on calmer waters; still sleuthing around, albeit at a slower and less dramatic pace. With Helen by his side, we can expect lots of thrill.

MIRREN'S BEST

Prime Suspect (1991)

Gosford Park (2001)

The Queen (2006)

The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)

The Good Liar (2019)

Golda (2023)

— The writer is a movie critic