Helen Mirren began her acting career at a very young age in 1965, at the age of 18, when she performed the role of Queen Cleopatra of Egypt in the play Antony and Cleopatra (1965). This was followed by her portrayal of the beautiful but wild Cora Ryan in Age Of Consent in 1969. Since then, Helen Mirren movies and TV shows have spanned over five decades. One of her most famous and commercially successful movies and TV shows is the film Gosford Park, produced in 2001.
The famous British actress has starred in many other movies and TV shows, and across many film genres. She has played characters in romantic roles such as in the 1969 romantic drama film Age Of Consent. In Red and Red 2, Mirren acts as a retired assassin who gleefully engages the enemy. Yet she plays the elegant and sophisticated roles in The Queen, and the 1989 Peter Greenaway’s film, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover.
Iconic Helen Mirren Movies and TV Shows
Hitchcock 2012
Helen Mirren plays Alma Reville, also known as Alma Hitchcock, the longtime wife of filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock (portrayed by Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins) in the 2012 biographical romantic drama film. It was directed by Sacha Gervasi.
Hitchcock is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Alfred Hitchcock’s groundbreaking 1960 psychological thriller and horror film Psycho. The 2012 movie focuses on the personal and professional dynamics during the production of Psycho – including Hitchcock’s obsession and fixation on blond actresses, financial risks, and marriage tensions especially when Hitchcock suspects that ALma is having an affair with Whitfield Cook (Danny Huston).
Mirren portrays Hitchcock’s wife as an intelligent, supportive, often underappreciated, and sometimes frustrated partner who played a crucial behind-the-scenes role in shaping many of the famous director’s films.
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
Starring Helen Mirren as Georgina Spica, wife of English gangster Albert Spica (played by Michael Gambon), The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover is a 1989 provocative art-house crime drama that was written and directed by Peter Greenaway.
Albert Spica is a vulgar gangster who regularly comes at night with his entourage of thugs to dine in an opulent French restaurant called Le Hollandais, where the movie is almost entirely set. The high-class restaurant is managed by French chef Richard Boarst (Richard Bohringer). Spica dominates the space through intimidation, bad manners, and violence, and forces his reluctant wife to accompany him on his nightly appearances.
In contrast, his wife, Georgina, is elegant, sophisticated, yet deeply abused and is humiliated and trapped in a toxic marriage that is marked by physical beatings, verbal cruelty, and sexual violation. She then starts a passionate, clandestine affair with a regular patron at the restaurant. Their affair is risky and charged with eroticism, and the film has nude scenes, graphic violence and bold visual styles.
Age Of Consent (1969)
Age Of Consent is a 1969 romantic comedy-drama film that was directed by Michael Powell and stars the then 24 years old Helen Mirren as Cora Ryan. This movie was Helen Mirren’s first major leading role in a theatrical movie. Cora Ryan is a wild, naive, natural, beautiful, playful, energetic, and uninhibited 17 year old young woman who lives on a remote but scenic island in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
She supports herself by catching and selling fish, stealing from nearby farms, and lives with her abusive, gin-loving grandmother (played by Neva Carr-Glynn).
Then an aging and disillusioned artist named Bradley Morahan (played by James Mason) retreats to the island to revive his creativity. He encounters Cora, and she becomes his muse and model for painting. This leads to scenes of her posing for him, and some boldly in the nude. Their relationship starts with Bradley buying her fish as payment, and later becomes more inspirational and personal. The movie explores themes of art, freedom, inspiration, isolation, and renewal.
Eye In The Sky (2015)
Directed by Gavin Hood, Eye In The Sky is a 2015 thriller that stars Helen Mirren as Colonel Katherine Powell, and Alan Rickman as Lieutenant General Frank Benson, her superior. Colonel Powell is a British Army military intelligence officer who is based in the UK, and commands a top-secret multinational drone operation.
The initial mission of the operation is to capture high-value Al-Shabaab terrorists who include some of Britain’s most-wanted criminals, and who are meeting in a safe house in Nairobi, Kenya.
Surveillance of the terrorists is carried out via a US Reaper drone, while ground intelligence is provided by undercover Kenyan field agents.
But when Colonel Powell discovers that the terrorists are planning a suicide bombing mission, she pushes for a change from a capture to a lethal drone strike (“kill”) mission. However, a young girl enters the potential blast zone, as she innocently sells bread made by her mother. This sparks intense ethical, legal, and political debates across UK and US chains of command.
The Queen (2006)
One of the most famous Helen Mirren Movies and TV Shows is the 2006 film The Queen. The Queen stars Helen Mirren in the central and title role of Queen Elizabeth II. It is a 2006 historical drama film that was directed by Stephen Frears and was written by Peter Morgan. The movie is set around the events immediately following the death of Princess Diana in a Paris car crash on August 31, 1997.
By her character’s initial resistance of public displays of mourning or a state funeral for the Princess, Helen Mirren portrays the Queen as a private person who is stern, deeply traditional and duty-bound, yet deeply human, since at her death Princess Diana was no longer a working royal.
Royal protocol and family privacy come first for the Queen, and she displays remarkable restraint in the face of intense public grief and media pressure that demands more emotional visibility from the monarchy. Her masterful portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II won Helen Mirren the Academy Award for Best Actress. The Queen also stars Michael Sheen as the newly elected Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Excalibur (1981)
The 1981 epic dark medieval fantasy film Excalibur was directed by John Boorman and stars Helen Mirren as the seductive and vengeful sorceress known as Morgana. She is King Arthur’s (played by Nigel Terry) half-sister, and a central antagonist who displays beauty, ambition, elegance, menace, and love for dark magic.
Excalibur is a magical sword that was thrust into a stone by the dying Uther Pendragon (father of the future King Arthur). The sorcerer Merlin declares that the man who manages to pull the sword from the stone shall be king.
However, Morgana schemes against Merlin (Nicol Williamson), and by taking the form of Guenevere who Arthur loves, she seduces Arthur, and conceives a child who is named Mordred. Upon reaching adulthood, Mordred demands Arthur’s crown. This leads to a battle between Arthur’s and Mordred’s forces, ultimately leading to the downfall of Camelot.
The film’s star cast includes Nigel Terry as Arthur, Patrick Stewart as Leodegrance, Liam Neeson as Gawain, Cherie Lunghi as Guenevere, and Gabriel Byrne as Uther Pendragon.
Red (2010)
Another one of the most famous Helen Mirren Movies and TV Shows is Red. RED (Retired, Extremely Dangerous) is a 2010 action-comedy film that stars Helen Mirren as Victoria Winslow, a retired British MI6 assassin. Victoria is an elegant, deadly, and precise assassin who still takes the occasional contract. She surprisingly wields weapons with effortless style and cool confidence for her age.
This is an amusing film that blends humor, romance, and action with unexpected sophistication and badassery from the aging top cast.
Helen Mirren’s character delivers iconic scenes that include sniping from afar, and gleefully handling a massive machine gun while dressed in an elegant white dress. She coolly takes down foes in a hospital shootout, and her character in the film displays great chemistry with her fellow retired and extremely dangerous operatives who have been rudely forced out of retirement.
The RED cast includes famous actors Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, and John Malkovich as retired CIA agents Francis “Frank” Moses, Joe Matheson, and Marvin Boggs respectively. Mary-Louise Parker acts as Sarah Ross, a call center employee who is Frank’s romantic crush.
Red 2 (2013)
Red 2 is a sequel to the 2010 action-comedy Red. Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Neal McDonough are some of the famous actors and actresses who join the cast of the previous film. Red 2 is set 3 years after the events of the first film. Retired CIA agent Frank Moses is trying to lead lead a normal life with his girlfriend Sarah Ross.
Helen Mirren reprises her badass role of retired British MI6 assassin Victoria Winslow: she is elegant, deadly, and yet fun. Victoria gleefully jumps into action with her sniper gun when a Cold War-era portable nuclear device called Nightshade, created by physicist Dr. Edward Bailey (played by Anthony Hopkins), resurfaces.
Dr. Edward Bailey is alive and has been in a maximum security asylum for the criminally insane for 32 years, and the team must infiltrate the asylum, because the bomb’s creator is the one who hid the portable nuclear bomb and knows it’s location.
