THE WRAP UP
Helen shoots from the hip; royal astrologer reveals all; Downton Abbey the movie!
Dame Helen Mirren has given a candid interview in which she’s revealed she’s very happy her status as a sex-symbol is “fading”.
The Oscar winner sighed when she was asked how she felt about being a sex symbol at 72. “I’ve had to come to terms with it over a long period of time. Luckily, it’s fading now,” she laughs. “Finally fading. Because that’s ghastly, isn’t it? The thought of all those weird strangers?
“I’ve always found it a very tacky and unpleasant tag, but it’s one I had to kind of grit my teeth and bear for a long, long time.”
The face of beauty brand L’Oréal is known for making headlines, not just for her acting prowess, but for speaking her mind too. “I do get myself into hot water sometimes by opening my big mouth a little too much,” she confides. “But on the other hand, I’ve always felt that a certain amount of honesty is probably good!”
The star also spoke of how pleased she has been to watch women speak up in Hollywood in the hope of improving working conditions. “I love the way the world is changing, the way culture is changing, for women especially,” she says. “I do wish I was 30 now, not because I wish I was 30! Not that, but I want to have more of my life in the world we’re going to have for the next 40 or 50 years. I want to experience it as a younger person.
“I had to go through the ‘60s and ‘70s, which was a hideous time for women. The impact of birth control and the so-called ‘sexual explosion’ was actually dreadful for girls and women. It was the Hugh Hefner attitude – girls and women became sexual objects.
“I hated Hugh and everything he represented.”