'It's the worst vice of all': Helen Mirren reveals the surprising habit she just can't give up

Dame Helen Mirren is a lot of things, including an icon, a national treasure, and a hugely talented actress.

She's also very honest and down-to-earth, and this is evident in the "biggest vice" she has, that she really struggles to give up - it's one that many people share.

Speaking on The Run-Through with Vogue podcast, when Helen was directly about her biggest vice, her immediate and very surprising answer is "doomscrolling."

"It's the worst vice of all," the actress admits, adding that her algorithm serves her "ballet" videos that she just can't stop looking at.

This admission leads to another little known story about Helen, involving her once hoping to attend the royal Ballet School.

"I love looking at dance - I went to ballet school," she explains, adding, "I auditioned for the Royal Ballet School but I didn't get in, luckily, which is a very lucky escape really."

She doesn't reveal the reason for this being a "lucky escape," but does say that her love of dance took her to explore many types of movement. "It led me into Indian dancing, Indonesian dancing, Turkish dancing - and dance is so magical," she says.

"Dance is a magical thing we all do," she continues, but does say that algorithms giving people "whatever you want," is "dangerous."

While the idea of Helen Mirren endlessly scrolling ballet and dance videos and being unable to put her phone down makes her more approachable than ever, the actress also shares her equally understandable TV show recommendations.

"I did love Game of Thrones," she says, adding that she's just as in awe of its prequel, House of The Dragon.

Speaking of the latter, she says, "It's just so spectacular to have a huge series about two women, and it's about family, it's about sex, it's about their smartness, their fear, their insecurity, their faults - incredible to see that."

Helen is also a huge fan of Slow Horses, sharing that she's read all of the books on which the admittedly brilliant show is based.

Sharing even more insight into aspects of her life the public wouldn't normally know about, Helen also delves into the time she tried "method drinking" to get into character for a role.

"I have done method drinking in the past," she admits, explaining that the first time was for a play called Teeth and Smiles where she played an "alcoholic rock and roll singer."

She previously hadn't been able to afford to drink up until that point, but needed the experience for the role.

"I did method drinking - I started drinking a lot, just to see what it was like," she shares. When asked whether it helped, Helen replies, "It was fantastic."

She continues, "It was wonderful - talk about freeing. The liberation, it's a terrible thing." Although she quickly says, "I stopped as soon as I started the play, because you can't do that and do a play."

She adds, "But to feel what that feeling is like, to be so drunk," hinting that it was something she wouldn't forget and something that informed her performance.