Helen Mirren’s greatest loves: “My husband & all the dogs I have ever known”

helen

The above photo comes from Russell Brand’s Twitter, and it’s kind of awesome. In my mind, Russell and Helen Mirren are having a hell of a time working together, and they’re probably both flirting their asses off. I king of wish they were having a torrid affair, honestly.

Anyway, Helen Mirren is Vanity Fair’s latest interviewee for their monthly Proust questionnaire. Helen’s interviews are generally pretty hit or miss – if you get her on certain topics, she comes across as pretty crazy (nurses = hookers?). But if you ask her questions like the Proust list, she comes across as lovely. She loves dogs! Aw.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
To sit by a clear river on a warm day in early July with the smell of cut grass in the air.

Which living person do you most admire?
Sister Alice Marie Quinn, who runs St. Vincent Meals on Wheels in Los Angeles.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Laziness and procrastination.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Serially telling endless boring jokes and sexism and racism and homophobia (they often go together).

What is your greatest extravagance?
Drugstore makeup.

What is your favorite journey?
The top of any bus going anywhere in London.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Holiness.

On what occasion do you lie?
When I have inadvertently double-booked myself.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?
Oh, Lord, where do I begin?

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
“Lovely,” “darling.”

What is your greatest regret?
Not painting more.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My husband and all the dogs I have ever known.

When and where were you happiest?
The night of my marriage, in Ardersier, Scotland, and digging the vegetable patch in the Forest of Dean.

What is your current state of mind?
Calm, but scared.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
My legs or my unmusicality.

What is your favorite occupation?
Probably gardening. Also dressmaking.

What is the quality you most like in a person?
Strength without bullying.

What do you most value in your friends?
Their ability to open a bottle of wine.

Who are your favorite writers?
Joseph Conrad, Barbara Vine, Mark Twain, Joseph Roth, J. M. Barrie, just a few …

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
A very worn sofa.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?
A businesswoman athlete who can sing.

[From Vanity Fair]

She sounds cute, right? I would change the musical part of myself too, because I can’t carry a tune to save my life. I wish I was a piano prodigy, honestly. I wish I was one of those savants who could just sit down at the piano and play anything. My second choice: violist. I would love to be a great violinist.

Helen Mirren and Russell Brand get to work on the film Arthur in New York City, New York on July 12, 2010. Fame Pictures, Inc

July 06, 2010 - New York, New York, U.S. - HELEN MIRREN attends the premiere of ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'' at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City on 07-06-2010.  2010..K65295HMc. © Red Carpet Pictures

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

20 Responses to “Helen Mirren’s greatest loves: “My husband & all the dogs I have ever known””

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. meme says:

    I love Helen. Love love love her. My dogs are my life.

  2. lola lola says:

    Everything about this woman is lovely.

  3. TQB says:

    Oh Helen, please come visit. I will open many bottles of wine, and we can play with my dog and dig in my garden…

  4. Bodhi says:

    Oh I love this woman!!

  5. danielle says:

    She sounds horrid in some of her interviews, but this one is pretty cute. And I can (sortof) carry a tune, but wish I could draw or paint. It’s always something! :^)

  6. Schozzle says:

    Helen Mirren isn’t lovely. She’s an old woman who thinks more often than not rape victims are asking for it. She disgusts me.

  7. Katie says:

    I love her. I haven’t seen of her noteworthy film performances, but I recently watched all of Prime Suspect, and it’s great and she’s even better in it. So worth watching.

  8. Sumodo1 says:

    Helen, if you ever get sick of your husband, may I please have him? I adore Taylor Hackford, so I’ll be nice to him. Ok, Helen?

  9. KsGirl says:

    Loooooooove her. Love that she loves her dogs, too, because I TOTALLY get that.

    In conclusion: I love her. (and this is not in spite of her other interviews – I generally agree with them)

  10. gretchen says:

    had to see what all the fuss was about, so i recently watched one of her very early movies, can’t remember the name but james mason starred in it, she played a lolita type part with some partial nudity scenes. i found her very ‘normal’ looking, slightly bigger on the bottom with long blonde hair and a pleasant face.
    still trying to figure out why everyone makes such a fuss about her? enlighten me please

  11. Patrice says:

    I didn’t think I could admire Helen Mirren any more than I alreday do until now! She’s awesome. That comment about dogs was really sweet and touched my heart strings as a fellow huge animal lover : )

  12. Kiska says:

    @ Schozzle

    Can you be more specific and back up your ridiculous statement regarding Helen condoning rape?

  13. wordsMatter says:

    @ 6 Schozzle

    she actually was a rape victim, schozzle and i don’t she condoned that.
    you should be very specific in your information regarding this kind of thing.

    here’s a link to her interview re: her experience>> http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/09/01/helen.mirren.rape/

  14. ChelseaD says:

    @ gretchen

    Watch “The Queen” or “The Last Station” (if they’re the sort of films you’d want to watch) and you’ll see that she’s a very good actress. Also, for the most part, she is a good role model for aging gracefully.

  15. Liana says:

    I like Helen Mirren. She never said that date rape wasn’t rape, she was stating that she thought it would be difficult to bring a case into court if two people were having sex and the woman said no at the last minute. She said that she considered that rape, but it was a tricky thing to prove.

  16. gretchen says:

    thanx chelsea, just put them into my netflix queue

  17. lkkerrmarrs says:

    I love Helen. Wonderfully, shokingly and honest. Quite refreshing. A wonderful marriage, beautiful and intelligent. She is a great personification of our modern mature woman. She gives me pride in being an over 50 woman.

    L K Marrs

  18. Janet Oliver says:

    Dame Helen Mirren is my diva.

    She is an inspiring, monumentally talented, intelligent, bitingly witty woman who can do no wrong in my eyes.

    Personally, I think that the vast majority of the “crazy” comments attributed to her are either taken WAY out of context or misinterpreted. Take Snoozle for example – Dame Helen never EVER said that rape victims “deserve” to be raped.

    Sheesh!

  19. Janet Oliver says:

    LOL: I need to correct my previous comment.

    The poster who made the incorrect comment about Dame Helen on date rape is SCHOZZLE, not Snoozle.

    My bad.

  20. cath says:

    Dame Helen Mirren is one of my Goddesses! Gawd. I love her 😉 She’s Very Talented and Intelligent 😀 Smokin’ HOTTTT! ♥