Dame Helen Mirren says people need to embrace ageing. Photo / Getty Images
Dame Helen Mirren says people need to embrace ageing. Photo / Getty Images
Dame Helen Mirren has said she finds it “insulting” when young people are condescending to their elders.
The British actor, who turned 80 in July, said there were many good things about growing old and that people needed to embrace ageing. She said people should not patronise her by callingher “sweet” or “feisty”.
She told the Times: “The hardest part is condescension. It really annoys me. If my husband and I are holding hands, and someone might say, ‘Oh, look, how sweet.’ It’s like, excuse my language, ‘f*** off’.
“There’s something very condescending about some people’s attitudes, and they think they are being kind and generous. But they’re not. They’re being insulting.”
Mirren, whose latest film The Thursday Murder Club is in cinemas, said people needed to embrace getting old.
Steven Spielberg (left), Richard Osman, Dame Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Celia Imrie, Sir Ben Kingsley and Chris Columbus attend the UK premiere of The Thursday Murder Club in Leicester Square on August 21 in London, England. Photo / Getty Images
She said her mother had told her: “When you’re 18, the thought of being 35 is horrific. And you get to 35, it’s actually a lot better than being 18. And when you’re 35, the thought of being 55…
“Then you hit 55 and you realise there are great things about being 55. Your life has moved on, you lose certain stuff but you gain other stuff. That’s certainly been the case for me.”
Mirren said even the “tech bros” and their immense wealth were never going to beat the passage of time, adding: “They haven’t learnt my mum’s lesson.
“It’s a natural wave of life that has been going on for billions of years, and it’s beautiful to be part of that wave. It’s what humanity is about in the end, so it’s important not to wimp out. You’re not going to be 30 when you’re 50. You’re just not.”
With two more films due out this year, Mirren said she had no intention of slowing down when it comes to work. But she added that she did have one wish – returning to the theatre in London, where she has not performed since 2013.
She said: “I’d love to, but it’s so tough. I’d like to do something really small, somewhere like the Bush [a theatre in west London], something radical in a small theatre.”
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor’s Picks, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week’s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here.
