We've lost count of the times Helen Mirren said something iconic about getting older. She's risen to be one of the biggest champions of living a full life well into retirement age - and having zero cares what the world thinks of her advancing years.
The star has previously spoken about embracing ageing, and her strong issues with the word 'beauty,' and has now made even more relatable statements about ignoring birthdays and how easy it is to patronise the elderly.
Having just turned 80 and about to appear on our screens in a film adaptation of Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club novel on Netflix, you find Helen slowing down or waxing lyrical about the celebrations for her milestone big day - because she doesn't celebrate birthdays.
Entering her octogenarian years on July 26, Helen told People, “Honestly, I don’t celebrate birthdays. I don’t recognise them because life just rolls on."
However, there is just one thing she does expect on the day marking the day of her birth, and it's just what you might anticipate. "I expect to be very, very nicely treated on my birthday. That’s all I want. Cup of tea in bed in the morning," she reveals.
Fans used to her unfiltered opinions on ageing won't be surprised to hear the actress wishes younger generations would stop patronising older ones, stopping for a moment to see life through their eyes.
Her character in The Thursday Murder Club, Elizabeth, is a retired spy. Helen wants to showcase that living in a retirement facility isn't just about sitting around waiting for life to end - Elizabeth (and Helen herself) still live remarkable lives.
"People who are retired have had extraordinary, productive, challenging, difficult, professional lives, and they’re not finished. It doesn’t suddenly screech to a halt, she says.
Helen adds, "Younger people cannot comprehend the fact that the older generation had sex, had fun, danced, were obsessed with their hair and their weight."
"And of course, the older people are looking at them and going, ‘You know what? We’ve done that. We’ve been there.'"
The actress also has something to say about the labels given to ageing people. She particularly finds the use of the word 'feisty' applied to an older person with a lot of spark and energy, particularly condescending.
"I hate the word feisty. I’m alive. Don’t give me those sort of awful labels," she says. Helen recalls a particularly hilarious response to an interviewer who once suggested she had a "young spirit."
While she might've preferred to use profanity in response to being referred to in such a way, she actually replied, "My spirit is the age that I am."
Helen has also been immortalised as a cocktail at Pal’s Lounge in New Orleans - a bar once owned by her late stepson, Rio Hackford, who passed away in 2022.
Named "The Helen F------ Mirren," the star is very enamoured by the name of the drink, finding it quite hilarious.
Made with Earl Grey tea, vodka, habanero, and honey, we'd love to enjoy a Helen F------ Mirren with the actual Helen Mirren, and share our own passionate views about ageing acceptance.
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