Names and faces

■ Helen Mirren graces People magazine’s “The Beautiful Issue” in a cover story that touches on her thoughts of beauty and how the Oscar winner still gets nervous before filming a role. The magazine Wednesday revealed the cover of the annual issue, which hits newsstands Friday. The 76-year-old Mirren said she was “gobstruck” to learn of the honor and never considered herself beautiful — especially at her age. From her perspective, the word beauty should be dubbed another word: swagger. “I love the word swagger because I think swagger means I’m confident in myself, I’m presenting myself to the world, I’m enjoying the world around me,” said Mirren, who won a best-actress Academy Award for her role in the 2006 film “The Queen.” Also a L’Oreal Paris spokesperson since 2014, she has built an acting career of more than 140 credits over 55 years. Despite that, she still finds herself nervous before starting a new project. “I get very nervous about the day-to-day process,” said Mirren, whose films also include “The Long Good Friday,” “Elizabeth I” and “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, & Her Lover.” “And meeting and dealing with new people,” she continued. “And not knowing whether I am going to remember my lines or not. I just get very frightened until I get into the swing of things and then I kind of relax.” After a film wraps, Mirren said her nerves are calmed and she doesn’t read any reviews — good or bad.

■ The quirky dancepop outfit The B-52s are hitting the road one last time on a summer tour. “No one likes to throw a party more than we do, but after almost a half-century on the road, it’s time for one last blow-out,” said Fred Schneider, co-founder and singer for the Athens, Ga.-based band, which burst onto the New Wave scene in 1979 with songs like “Rock Lobster” and cracked the pop charts in the late ’80s with the party classics “Love Shack” and “Roam.” Their farewell tour will visit 10 cities across the U.S., kicking off Aug. 22 in Seattle and ending Nov. 11 in Atlanta. Stops include Boston, Chicago, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington. “Who knew what started as a way to have some fun and play music for our friends at house parties in Athens in 1977 would evolve into over 45 years of making music and touring the world. It’s been cosmic,” said co-founder Kate Pierson.

Pierson Schneider

Mirren