She is the reel `Queen'
RANDOR GUY
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Nominated for the Best Actress Oscar, Helen Mirren has had the opportunity to play both the Queens — Elizabeth I and the reigning Elizabeth II.
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Photo: AP
REGAL: Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II in a scene from The Queen.
She is one of the few actors with an incredible record in more than one medium, whether it is theatre, television or films. More than a fistful of awards have come to her, which includes the Golden Globe, Emmy and BAFTA.
Now Helen Mirren has been nominated for the Best Actress Oscar, for her scintillating performance as Queen Elizabeth II.
She is the only actor who has had the opportunity to play both the queens — Elizabeth I and the reigning Elizabeth II.
Prediction
As a young woman, she realised that her life was going nowhere except for some small parts on stage in London, and her future seemed bleak.
So she consulted an Indian palmist-cum-fortune-teller in London.
`The Indian Guru,' as she calls him, told her "The height of your success won't happen until you're in your late forties."
"... From that moment on," she said in an interview, "I felt much better, because I realised I didn't want to know what was going to happen. I just wanted to get on with it."
The fortune-teller proved right! She made a name in British theatre and after doing some films, she hit big time with memorable movies, such as `Caligula' (1979, about the violent life and times of the Roman Emperor and had Peter O'Toole and John Gielgud in it), Excalibur' (1981, the story of King Arthur and the Holy Grail, written and directed by British filmmaker John Boorman) and `The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover' (1989, critics felt that the film was a satire on the materialistic world of today. Helen had a major role as the thief's wife with Tim Roth as her lover. It was not only a box-office success, but became a cult film).
Then television beckoned her in 1990 and she was cast as Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison in the British hit series `Prime Suspect.'
Her role as the unglamorous police officer earned her three BAFTA awards and an Emmy for the fourth series. This series was on air between 1990-2006 and Helen Mirren became a household name in Britain.
Helen calls her role, "the biggest break of my career." And she moved ahead when she was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the Robert Altman hit, `Gosford Park,' in 2002.
Playing Elizabeth I
She played Elizabeth I in HBO's two-part TV movie in 2005. Elizabeth I was a strong woman who ruled England under difficult circumstances and proved successful.
In 2006, she was cast as Queen Elizabeth II, a contemporary tale, built around the Queen, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the tragic end of Diana.
Helen's performance was so convincing that the real Queen was impressed and invited her to dinner.
For this role, Helen studied photographs, pictorial history and also news-reel clippings of the Queen.
Helen even worked into her role the Queen's habit of playing with her wedding ring whenever she was under stress.
Box-office success
The movie, directed by Stephen Frears (`My Beautiful Launderette'), was not only a box office success but also received critical attention and awards. Recently, the Oscar nominations were announced and Helen has been selected for the Best Actress category.
She was born on July 26,1946 in Chiswick, England and named Ilynea Lydia Mironoff. Her father was a Russian nobleman who had to drive a taxi in London after the 1917 (October) Russian Revolution. Her father changed her name to Helen Mirren.
She relocated to Los Angeles during the 1980s and still lives there. She is married to American filmmaker Taylor Hackford.
Her other noteworthy movies include, `Raising Helen' (2004), `Calendar Girls' (2003), ` The Madness of King George' and `Age Of Consent' (1969).
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