By Gill Pringle
Attending this year’s Toronto International Film Festival where she was promoting her dark drama, The Leisure Seeker with Donald Sutherland, Helen Mirren was singled out to be feted at a special evening celebrating her career.
Arriving at the Glenn Gould Studio at CBC, she looked radiant in a deep yellow dress, bowing as she received a standing ovation from enthusiastic fans.
The celebrated actress went on to recall her disappointment after, as a young woman, she consulted a palm reader. “She told me I wouldn’t find success until after I turned 40. I thought, ‘Oh I can’t wait that long!’ I was only 22 years old at the time so it was terrible news.”
Sensing the young actress’ despair, the palm reader reassured her that she would be successful regardless, but her greatest triumphs would come later. “And she was right. I did find success very early on and, really, I’ve never stopped working. I enjoyed a certain kind of success in Britain but my international success didn’t come until after I was 40,” says the actress who still refuses to confirm whether or not the Queen has ever watched her Oscar-winning performance as Queen Elizabeth II in 2007.
“One can never really know,” she says diplomatically.
Like the Queen, she has no plans on retirement. “I enjoy working and I would love to do more cutting edge art films as a really serious art form. But I just have to sit back and hope that that work comes my way.”
Her latest role is far removed from her recent whimsical roles such as Collateral Beauty or The Hundred-Foot Journey. Based on Michael Zadoorian’s book and directed by Paolo Virzi, The Leisure Seeker is about a couple, both in failing health, who take a golden-years road trip in their vintage camper van.
In the film, she plays an ageing Southern belle, her South Carolina accent impeccable although she confesses to struggling with American accents. “I always find American very difficult. It’s so weird because I’ve lived in America for a long time and my husband [filmmaker Taylor Hackford] is American and yet I find the accent so hard to do; much harder than Russian or German or Scottish or Irish. I’ve done all of those – Cockney, Northern England, and yet American I find very difficult. The Southern Carolina is a beautiful accent, yet accents are quite paralyzing. I don’t think I want to do any more of that stuff.”
Mirren particularly enjoyed working with an Italian director, appreciating a more romantic way of filming. “My old inspiration was always Italian film. The idea of working in English but, in a way, in an Italian film. I think the film does very much have an Italian sensibility. There’s a gentleness and a romance and a generosity.
“I have a house in Italy. I spend a lot of time in Italy and so I think this film – even though it is set in America – is very true to the Italian persona.”
If she always presents a rather regal image, then one can’t help but wonder how much time Dame Helen has spent in a camper van in her own life, more regularly seen on the red carpet dressed in elegant jewels and gowns.
“No, I don’t think I’ve spent much time in a Winnebago,” she begins, only to interrupt herself, “I lie! I’ve spent a vast amount of time in stationary Winnebagos. It’s where the loo is, where the craft services are – I spend half my life really in a Winnebago.
“Actually, my husband and I did take a road trip in a mini-van. It wasn’t a Winnebago. But I love them. I love the idea of them and I like the idea of being able to make a cup of tea in your car.”
Asked whether or not the industry has changed over the 50+ years she has been an actress, she says, “There was something rather wonderful about not having video playback. It was like photography before you could see your picture immediately. You had to believe and you had to wait to see if you’d got it or not. It was more mysterious, more challenging and there’s something rather magical about that. But – apart from that – everything else is better. Especially as far as women are concerned. It wasn’t very nice for women.”
