Whether she's running down a runway barefoot or schooling a male interviewer over sexist comments, Helen Mirren always keeps it real.
Despite this, when I join her for our interview in a Beverly Hills mansion fit for any of the queens she's played, nerves kick in. What do I call the legendary actor? "Ms. Mirren"? Or "Dame," a title bestowed on her by Queen Elizabeth II? "If you call me 'Dame,'" she says, "then you say 'Dame Helen.' Most Americans get this wrong, because you should never say 'Dame Mirren.' That's the form. But you don't need to call me 'Dame.' Call me Helen!"
Mirren's ability to appreciate her successes, while also being incredibly down-to-earth, is one of the many reasons she's so beloved. Fans applauded when, at 69, she was named one of L'Oréal Paris's ambassadors—a role she's held for the past five years. And now, with the launch of the brand's Age Perfect cosmetics line (which is geared toward women over 50), she genuinely values its importance.
"L'Oréal has really put money, effort, and science into its Age Perfect makeup," she says. "At 40, I remember believing I was supposed to look like a 16-year-old if I used certain makeup, [and as a result] I felt like an idiot." Now, with a line that's been formulated specifically for mature skin, Mirren calls it a gift. "It's the one we've been looking for for a long time," she adds.
Ahead, she talks all this and more in our latest round of Big Beauty Questions.
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What beauty advice would you give 20- and 30-somethings?
Forget the word beauty, and find another word that applies to you. My word is swagger. It's not your beauty; it's your swagger—unless, of course, you're very beautiful, in which case you're fine.
I think it’s fair to say you have both beauty and swagger.
I am not beautiful. I'm not. Listen, let's get real. There are beautiful people in the world, and I think we can all recognize them. David Beckham is spectacularly beautiful. Men or women, there is such thing as absolute beauty. The rest of us, 95% of us, are not in that category, but we're in other categories: interesting, funny, smart, brave, inspirational. I mean, there are many, many different categories. I would say, as a 20-year-old, find your category. Remember that there is not one single person on this planet like you. You are an absolute individual. Find pride and solace in that.
Fill in the blank: I love my hair when....
I've been on the beach all day, when it's all salty and windy.
What’s your go-to perfume?
Un Jardin en Méditerrannée Eau de Toilette by Hermès.
Which city gives you the biggest beauty inspiration?
Well, I'd say Rio de Janeiro, but of course I can never look like the women there do—not ever. Not even if I were 20. So if not Rio, then I think I'll have to say Paris because they just know how to do it. They really are the best at it.
What’s your favorite emoji?
I don't use emoji. I hate them. They're irritating and stupid.
You do use Instagram, though.
Yes. But I don't call it my Instagram, I call it my Latergram because I always post much later, like three weeks later. Or a year later.
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You’ve got $20 and free roam of the drugstore. What do you buy?
Probably lipstick and lip liner. I love a lovely red, almost purply color. Especially berry colors. I’m always looking for the perfect lipstick. I also love L'Oréal's Age Perfect Rosy Tone Moisturizer. If you really don't feel like wearing any makeup—because some days you just don't want to put anything on your face, right?—the rosy moisturizer is really nice.
What's your favorite way to take a moment for yourself?
A cup of PG Tips, which is an English tea. Sometimes a biscuit, a Hobnob. Or, actually, a cup of tea and Marmite on toast. Yes, definitely.
There’s been a lot of talk recently about how women over 50 are redefining how we perceive age—whether it’s J.Lo, Jennifer Aniston, or yourself. Do you think it’s helped take some trepidation around aging away?
Yes, of course it has. But we get a lot of help in many different directions. You see beautiful photographs of us in a magazine, but there’s amazing lighting, an incredible photographer, an incredible hair and makeup team, a clothes team. There's a lot of work going into making that image. However, having said that, I still think that image is important for people to see. Life as an influential person is not over at 40.
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What’s the most pivotal shift in beauty standards you’ve seen over the last few decades?
The acceptance of getting older. It's absolutely tied into the success, status, and stature of women in the workplace. I always used to say—although it enraged me and it still does—that there are so many more roles for men in films, television, and drama. It's much better now. But I think [to change that] we should put our energy into roles for women in life. And that's exactly what's happening now.
Women are heads of hospitals and chancellors of universities. There are record numbers of female lawyers. In fact, my friend, who's a little bit older than me, she's a lawyer. When she went to law school, she was the only woman in the whole three years of law school. And now more than one in three lawyers are women. Doctors, politicians, we've got to get more women into politics. As those positions get taken, inevitably the roles in film will change too. Also, those women are never in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. You don't get to be the chancellor of a university when you're 32.
Do you wish there were certain aspects of getting older that were talked about more?
I think people are getting much more open. Menopause, for example, we didn’t talk about, like, 30 years ago. It's very interesting. As women gain control and take positions of importance in the world, the issues related specifically to us come more into the open, and I think that's fantastic.
Jessica Radloff is the West Coast editor at Glamour. You can follow her on Instagram @jessicaradloff14. This interview has been edited and condensed.
