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
What’s great in the modern world is that it’s becoming easier and easier for people to create without having access to large sums of money. They need access to certain technologies, but the cost is far less than it used to be. – Helen Mirren
We’re all idiots when we’re young. We don’t think we are, but we are. So we should be. – Helen Mirren
I have done film, television and theatre – all at a pretty substantial level – I don’t think it’s possible for American actors to do that. – Helen Mirren
I believe kids shouldn’t be taught Shakespeare. They should experience it first by seeing a great production. – Helen Mirren
You can’t control how other people see you or think of you. But you have to be comfortable with that. – Helen Mirren
It’ll be the Internet and piracy that will kill film. There’s a philosophy that the Internet should be free, but the reality is that piracy will destroy the film industry and film as an art form because it’s expensive to make a movie. Maybe you’ll have funky little independent movies, and it’ll go back and then start up again some other way. – Helen Mirren
When you do a voice in an animated film, you don’t see the finished product at all. You’re not animating. You’re not doing the voice on the finished product. You’re doing the voice long before. – Helen Mirren
I can’t say ‘no’ to an interesting role. I always tell my husband, ‘That’s it, I quit, I’ve done all I wanted,’ and he’s just like, ‘Yeah, yeah. Sure.’ – Helen Mirren
Parkinson’s is a slow but inevitable process. It’s hard living with it on a daily basis. The difficulty facing people with it is that they never quite know ‘Can I or can’t I do this today?’ – Helen Mirren
People often ask me whether I prefer theater or film, and the answer is that I prefer the one I’m not doing: The grass is always greener. – Helen Mirren
I do think it’s well over-time to have a female Doctor Who. I think a gay, black female Doctor Who would be the best of all. – Helen Mirren
There’s nothing sexy about doing a nude scene. It’s rather uncomfortable. I like dressing up rather than dressing down. – Helen Mirren
The great marriages are partnerships. It can’t be a great marriage without being a partnership. – Helen Mirren
I don’t share lots of the phobias that horror movies tap into. I don’t mind spiders or snakes or darkness. – Helen Mirren
I’m not a communist, of course. But I do think that everything is down to economics. Capitalism doesn’t change. – Helen Mirren
The role of women has always been undervalued in the spy world, always undermined in terms of recognition. Unfairly so. It’s a world that needs women. – Helen Mirren
The control and understanding of our personal fears is one of the most important undertakings of our lives. – Helen Mirren
I am so happy that I didn’t have children. Well, you know, because I’ve had freedom. And I’ve so loved my freedom. – Helen Mirren
I remember thinking, when I was in my early 30s, that this is the best age to be, and I still believe your 30s are a wonderful time. – Helen Mirren
Painters hate having to explain what their work is about. They always say, ‘It’s whatever you want it to be’ – because I think that’s their intention, to connect with each person’s subconscious, and not to try and dictate. – Helen Mirren
Patience can be a good thing – but not necessarily. Sometimes it’s not so bad to be impatient. I’m a little bit too polite. – Helen Mirren
I was part of the first generation of girls and women to be educated and go to grammar school even if we didn’t have much money. Then that generation went, ‘OK, great’, and went into medicine or the police, and hit this wall of discrimination from older men who hadn’t caught up. – Helen Mirren
I believe in meditation – it’s a good tool to centre yourself, but unfortunately, I’m too lazy to do it. It’s very hard work, and I prefer to watch ‘Nothing To Declare’ on TV! – Helen Mirren
