The Oscar-winning star of the historical drama reveals five secrets from the set

helen mirren Thursday, 9pm, Sky Atlantic CATHERINE THE GREAT

1 My character was a remarkable woman who reigned in Russia from 1762 until 1796 – she was one of the greatest female rulers ever. We cover her early 50s to late 60s and used subtle make-up changes to show the passing years. For her 50s, the make-up made my skin lighter and finer than later. And the shape of her hair was lower and less full to diminish her stature as she ages. 2 I struggled with two aspects of Catherine’s life. Her relationship with her son Paul seems to have been based on hatred and it was very hard to get my head around. I also struggled with her liberated nature and sexuality. I had to tell myself, ‘Think like a man!’. The series looks at her affair with Grigory Potemkin. 3 It was thrilling to put on Catherine’s dresses – I’ve never got over my love of dressing-up I had as a child. The wardrobe department made around 60 meticulously detailed costumes based on paintings and drawings of her. She was formidable, but we wanted to show her softer, feminine side – hence the pastel blue, powder pink and gold in outfits hand-embroidered with pearls and gold and silver threads. 4 We filmed a lot in ‘Catherine’s apartment’, which was a 19th-century building dressed to look like part of an 18th-century palace. The real-life palace plans were used as the design basis. 5 Catherine was a prolific author – letters, fiction, memoirs, comedies – and I kept some of her works in my dressing room to get a sense of her personality. Her letters in particular are very readable and often very funny.

Helen as Catherine with Jason Clarke as Grigory Potemkin