Dame Helen Mirren, ambassador for L’Oréal Paris, talks to Nathalie Whittle about dealing with insecurity, managing bad hair days and the beauty secrets she swears by…
Helen Mirren is married to American film director Taylor Hackford. She splits her time between their homes in London, the US and Italy.
Have I ever had moments of self doubt?
Oh, every day! I used to be so terrified of parties and, although I’m much better than I used to be, I still have spells of massive insecurity. Sometimes it’s so extreme that I have to lock myself in the toilet to get myself together and talk myself into going out and dealing with what’s in front of me. I think that’s partly why I’m an actress because when I’m acting I can pretend to be someone else – it’s when I’m dealing with just being myself that things get tricky.
I grew up in that era when, as a young woman, your voice was just dismissed – your opinion and your thoughts weren’t considered important.
It wasn’t until I did Prime Suspect in 1991 [Helen won three consecutive BAFTA Awards for her role as Jane Tennison] that things started to change. That was the first time I felt as though people were actually listening to what I had to say and they were interested in my contribution to the work. It gave me a huge boost of confidence, so now I’m very careful to make sure I listen to people – whoever they are.
This story is from the May 2018 edition of Woman & Home.
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This story is from the May 2018 edition of Woman & Home.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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