At 79, Helen Mirren Leans Into the ‘Constant Learning Curve’ of Life

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Helen Mirren, 79, has a career that spans five decades and has earned her an Academy Award, four Emmys, three Golden Globes and a Tony, so it would be understandable if she wanted to take a

break or slow down. But “no, not particularly,” says Mirren, who at the moment plays both the badass crime family matriarch Maeve Harrigan to Pierce Brosnan’s patriarch in the new gangster

series MobLand, premiering March 30 on Paramount +, and the more practical matriarch Cara Dutton in the Yellowstone prequel 1923, currently running on Paramount +. 

“I’m sure one day I’ll think, Ugh, I’ve had enough of this, but not yet.”

AARP recently spoke with Mirren about what motivates her to keep working; why we should take note of the paisley housedress she wears in the upcoming movie Goodbye June; and the young actors

she’s eager to work with.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Pierce Brosnan, 71, along with Harrison Ford, 82, who plays your husband in 1923, are just the latest in a long line of wonderful costars for you. Is there someone you’d still like to share

the screen with?

I was very lucky. I’ve worked with some great directors and some great actors, but there’s always room for one more. There are some good young actors coming up now — not the next generation;

I’m speaking of like 10 generations later. Leo Woodall is fantastic. And the man of the hour, Timothée Chalamet. James Norton is a fantastic actor. I’d love to work with him one day. There

really are a lot of them. I have just worked with Alden Ehrenreich, who’s a fabulous actor, doing a film [Switzerland] where I play Patricia Highsmith. 

Was it fun to work on a project with Pierce again? You were both in The Long Good Friday years ago, right?

We never met on [The Long Good Friday, released in 1980]. We were never together in the same scene ever — we just happened to be in the same movie. But it is funny coming together because I

suspect that The Long Good Friday was very much an inspiration for Guy Ritchie [MobLand's executive producer, 56]. We had The Lavender Hill Mob [1951] and things like that, but I think that

was the first time a real sort of hard-edged British gangster film had ever been made, and it was quite revolutionary in that sense.

What do you like to watch? What was your last binge?

Well, I’ve just been watching Netflix’s Il Gattopardo, the Italian TV series based on [Giuseppe di] Lampedusa’s book The Leopard, which was a famous film by [Luchino] Visconti. But the

wonderful thing about a TV series is you can go into the characters and the history in a much deeper way. I do love a great costume drama. I’m very excited about Conclave because Robert

Harris is my favorite author, actually, along with Rose Tremain, my two favorite authors. He’s a great writer. And I read Conclave. So I’m looking forward to seeing that [the film is based

on the 2016 novel of the same name by Harris]. I haven’t seen it yet.