You know, you have to allow life to play itself out, don't you? And one thing you learn is that it doesn't stop. It moves on. Helen Mirren More Quotes by Helen Mirren More Quotes From Helen Mirren I am for peace and all kinds of ways because the total reality is that you never quite, at least in my experience, you never quite get to be peaceful in the profession that we have all chosen. It's a constant yearning, a constant reaching out for the unreachable. And so you never quite find peace within yourself. You are always questioning yourself and challenging yourself and feeling that you would fall short. Helen Mirren challenges reality fall I wonder what it means when Americans say I'm an American. In Britain the culture is basically the same from one end of the country to the other. And when I came here and I saw Americans who live, I don't know, in you know, Northwestern California as opposed to Americans who live in Louisiana, as opposed to Americans who live in the Nevada desert. English even is literally a picture that I have in my mind of an oak tree in the field, a single oak in a green field. And also when I think of my Russian roots, it's the landscape that I connect with as more than maybe the poetry or the drama. Helen Mirren drama mean country When I was doing Shakespeare and I had spent a lot of time and effort in trying to become a great Shakespearean actress. That was how I started my career, was in the theater doing Shakespeare. And my ambition was to be a great classical actress. That was what I wanted more than anything. So, I really pursued that in the first four years of my career. And it was an uphill struggle. It really was. Shakespeare's difficult and Shakespeare in a big theater is even more difficult. So, anyway, it was a struggle for me. Helen Mirren effort ambition struggle I think of myself as Mirren rather than Mironova, absolutely. I am a Brit, really. I mean when I go to Russia and I do have, maybe it's a romantic fantasy. You know us actors, we're very good at romantic fantasies. Helen Mirren fantasy mean thinking [Washington is a] very gossipy little village of people all going to the same bars . . . all watching each other having affairs with each other Helen Mirren village bars people A war film can be propaganda and they're very valuable as propaganda, as we realized in Britain in the Second World War. Film as propaganda is a very valuable tool. It can also demonize, which is the dangerous side of a war film as propaganda. But there are war films that are not propaganda. It's just saying 'This is what it's like.' For 99 percent of us we don't know what it's like. We have no idea. So to reveal that to the audience is powerful. Helen Mirren powerful war world Film is a wonderful thing and it can be so many different things. I don't want to turn my back on any of the different ways movies can be. I love the movies. I love going to the films. I like very serious films, I love foreign films, and I love big, fun movies - as long as they're well made and they've got good scripts. That's the most important thing. Helen Mirren important fun long All of that was very closely researched. I think all we can do with drones is realize they are with us and not bury our heads in the sand about it, we should say, 'Okay, how do we regulate this?' Helen Mirren sand realizing thinking Southend is a dormitory town for London. But it also had this thing of being the playground of the East End - a glamorous holiday town. Helen Mirren east holiday london I certainly think that he [Alan Rickman] was a kind of actor who needed to grow into his maturity to realize the potential, the huge potential that he had. Helen Mirren maturity actors thinking I don't share lots of the phobias that horror movies tap into. I don't mind spiders or snakes or darkness. Helen Mirren snakes darkness mind It's great to be queen! Helen Mirren queens Writers can get very angry when an actor says, "I don't know, I don't feel very comfortable with this line." Sometimes though, you're working with a writer for whom that is simply not apt - like Harold Pinter. Helen Mirren lines actors sometimes I believe kids shouldn't be taught Shakespeare. They should experience it first by seeing a great production. Helen Mirren believe kids firsts The whole 'R' rating depends on a strange sort of fantasy land where all adults are responsible people, and children only ever go to the cinema with their parents. Helen Mirren land children people Directors always used to be like the police to me - the enemy, the people to tell me what to do when I didn't want to do it. But I've lived with one for a while now and I guess I can put myself more in their position. You shouldn't be too sympathetic to them. Helen Mirren police people enemy I can't help being Christian because I was brought up in Britain, and the morality of Christianity is part of the fabric of this country. Helen Mirren fabric christian country I knew I wanted to engage in the world of the imagination, but it was not economically feasible for me to study acting, so I went to a teachers' training college. Helen Mirren imagination college teacher When I was making films [early in my career] there were very, very few female directors, and there were certainly no women on set, which made taking one's clothes off all the more difficult. Helen Mirren clothes careers directors The timing of comedy is so difficult. You've got to leave room for a laugh, you don't want to kill the laugh, but on film, you can't just suddenly stop for a laugh and then carry on. So, I think it's a real art form, comedy on film. Helen Mirren real art thinking
