→ Her paternal grandparents were Russian. Her grandfather, Piotr Vasilievich Mironoff, was a Tsarist aristocrat who was in London negotiating an arms deal during World War I when the 1917 Russian Revolution stranded him there. His wife and son (Helen’s father) joined him in London. On her mother’s side, she is of English descent.

→ Before marrying director Taylor Hackford in 1997, she had lived with him in Los Angeles since 1986.

→ Used to work in Southend-on-Sea, Essex at an amusement park “The Kursaal” as a “blagger” to attract customers on to rides.

→ She was awarded the Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2003 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for her services to drama.

→ Became an Associate Member of RADA.

→ Her great-great-great-great-grandfather was field-marshal Kamensky, one of the Russian heroes of the Napoleonic wars.

→ She is the only actress to play both Queen Elizabeth I (in Elizabeth I – 2005) and Queen Elizabeth II (in The Queen – 2006).

→ At the premiere of The Queen (2006) at the Venice Film Festival, her performance received a 5 minute standing ovation.

→ Member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 2004.

→ Played a Queen a total of six times: The Queen (2006), Elizabeth I (2005), The Prince of Egypt (1998), The Snow Queen (1995), The Madness of King George (1994), and Caligula (1979).

→ Became the third person, after Sigourney Weaver and Joan Plowright, to win two Golden Globes for acting in the same year. The characters she played were both Queens of England, Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Elizabeth II.

→ She dedicated her BAFTA win for The Queen (2006) to Ian Richardson for playing a huge part in her success story. She said (in her acceptance speech) that Richardson was very supportive towards her when she started out acting, and without him she may not have been so successful. She dedicated this award two days after Richardson died. [2007]

→ Nominated for Best Actress, Tony Award for “A Month in the Country” by Ivan Turgenev. [1995]

→ Placed her hand and footprint in cement in front of Graumann Chinese theatre on March 28, 2011.

→ Lived with Liam Neeson for 4 years after meeting on the set of Excalibur (1981).

→ Was presented the 2,488th Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame accompanied by her husband Taylor Hackford, two stepsons and Phil Spector (2013) director David Mamet (January 3, 2013).

→ She named Anna Magnani as her acting idol.

→ Release of her book “In the Frame: My Life in Words and Pictures” on March 2008.

→ Her first cousin is Tania Mallet who was a James Bond girl in Goldfinger (1964). Her father and Tania’s mother are brother and sister. Helen and Tania have enjoyed a warm relationship since childhood. Tania died in 2019, and a grieving Helen provided a loving and public tribute to “People” magazine about how her cousin was “kind and generous” and that she and her sister Kate will “miss her very much”.

→ Friends with Russell Brand.

→ She has a curious fascination with facial scars, particularly on men, finding them quite sexy and mysterious, perhaps indicative of an intriguing chapter in a man’s life. She actually sported a facial scar for her role in The Debt (2010).

→ Is mentioned by name in the hard-core rap song “Grippin’ On Wood” by Pimp C Chad Butler.

→ In 2012, Mirren was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork – The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover – to celebrate the British cultural figures of his life that he most admires.

→ On 11 May 2010, Mirren attended the unveiling of her waxwork at Madame Tussauds London. The figure reportedly cost £150,000 to make and took four months to complete.

→ In 1990, Mirren stated in an interview that she is an atheist. In the August 2011 issue of Esquire magazine, Mirren said, “I am quite spiritual. I believed in fairies when I was a child. I still do sort of believe in the fairies. And the leprechauns. But I don’t believe in God.

→ She is quoted as being a naturist, telling the Radio Times “I’m a naturist at heart. I love being on beaches where everyone is naked. Ugly people, beautiful people, old people, whatever. It’s so unisexual and so liberating.” In 2004, she was named “Naturist of the Year” by British Naturism. She said: “Many thanks to British Naturism for this great honour. I do believe in naturism and am my happiest on a nude beach with people of all ages and races!”.

→ She was initially hesitant to sign on to RED (2010) due to film’s graphic violence, but changed her mind upon learning of Bruce Willis’ involvement.

→ In a GQ interview in 2008, Mirren stated she had been date raped as a student and had often taken cocaine at parties in her 20s, and until the 1980s. She stopped using the drug after reading the (since debunked) tabloid tale that Klaus Barbie made a living from cocaine dealing.

→ In preparation for her role as a retired Israeli Mossad agent in The Debt (2010), she reportedly immersed herself in studies of Hebrew language, Jewish history, and Holocaust writing, including the life of Simon Wiesenthal, while in Israel in 2009 for the filming of some of the movie’s scenes.