Helen Mirren shoots — and scores — to the delight of us all,
Queen actress moves deftly between serious stage work and shoot-’em-up flicks, writes BOB THOMPSON.
Only Helen Mirren is capable of making a regal entrance wearing a hot pink dress and a cheeky smile. And she does.
As the Oscar winner takes her seat in a mid-Manhattan hotel suite, she exudes class minus the superior attitude that usually accompanies the status.
The 67-year-old, as affable as ever, is taking a break on this day from her acclaimed West End production of The Audience (the play ended its run mid-June) to chat about revisiting her Victoria role in the spy sequel, Red 2, which opens July 19.
On the London stage, the actress plays the stiff-upper-lip Elizabeth II (after having won a best actress Academy Award for the same Queen portrayal in 2006). In the film, her Victoria is back as the proficient killer with a cynical wit.
Besides Mirren, Red 2 again features Bruce Willis’ Frank and John Malkovich’s Marvin. All three are secret agents (RED: Retired, Extremely Dangerous) who return to the field to stop the reclaiming of a longforgotten weapon of mass destruction.
Back, too, for more action shenanigans, is Mary-Louise Parker’s Sarah, Frank’s girlfriend and wannabe spy. Brian Cox returns as Ivan, a former Soviet spy and Victoria’s lover.
New to the Red party is Catherine Zeta-Jones who portrays Miranda, a conniving Russian agent, while Anthony Hopkins is the unstable scientist inventor of the doomsday bomb.
Ferocious gunplay is sandwiched between one liners just like the original, so the action never gets in the way of a good laugh.
As a departure, Red 2 goes the international route (although most of the film was shot in Montreal). The good and bad guys venture to London, Paris and Moscow, to resolve their latest shoot ’em up assignment.
In fact, the comedy timing of Red and Red 2 couldn’t have been better for Mirren. She decided to do the first Red as a change of pace after coming off the serious-minded Queen biopic. And she filmed Red 2 before heading to the stage for The Audience, a physically and creatively demanding exercise.
Mind you, Mirren managed comedy parts before. She’s also immersed herself in the tense side of things with her portrayal of Supt. Jane Tennison in the acclaimed TV cop series Prime Suspect.
Still, the Red movies hold a special place in her thespian heart, as she explained in conversation with Postmedia News.
Did you re-connect with your churlish side to play Victoria in Red 2?
I love being a badass. It’s just the best. To lurch from being a queen to a badass is really cool.
Was she different to play this time?
The character takes on a different kind of life when you come back to it. It’s like when I did Prime Suspect and I kept coming back to Jane Tennison.
Is Victoria a favourite?
Victoria’s just a great … funny, surprising sort of character to see on screen because she hasn’t really been done before. It’s always sort of a miracle when you do something that hasn’t been seen.
In Red 2, she may or may not be friendly. True?
I love the fact that her first job in the sequel is to assassinate Bruce Willis’s character. You never quite know what side of the fence she’s on.
Who decided that your Red 2 character would pretend to be Her Royal Highness in one scene?
Queen Elizabeth was my idea and so was getting a really bad red wig and awful costume. It’s always nice to be tongue-and-cheek a bit. You’re slightly crossing the fourth wall, but it’s a nice way to do it.
How did you prepare for Red 2?
Mostly the prep is learning how to use the equipment again; the guns especially, and you have to learn it like you know what you’re doing. I’d never handled guns, so I had to learn that all over again.
Was Willis helpful?
The challenge in doing something like this is to have a self-discipline but still be casual about it, and it’s why Bruce (Willis) is so brilliant in these kinds of movies.
Did you enjoy the variety of comedy and drama in this movie and on stage?
It’s just lovely to mix it up, honestly. When you’ve done something heavy and serious and demanding, it’s lovely to do something that is just fun.
Was The Audience a difficult assignment?
Playing Elizabeth was demanding physically and mentally, but I’m not that sort of “methody” type actor. I can’t think of any role really that I’ve ever taken home with me in that way.
Rumour has The Audience heading to Broadway soon?
They wanted to do it in New York but it was too soon for me — possibly next year. I need a break. I did 17 weeks of eight a week, and it was exhausting.