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Credit: Granada Productions
Exploring Helen Mirren’s dedication to playing the Queen in 2006
Much like the Queen herself, Helen Mirren has been part of the British cinema establishment for entire generations, creating countless classic films and working with the industry’s finest names. Collaborating with such names as Robert Altman, Michael Powell, Ken Russell, Lindsay Anderson, Peter Weir and Peter Greenaway, Mirren’s contributions to British arthouse cinema are incomparable.
Joining the industry in the late 1960s, Mirren has enjoyed several celebrated roles, from The Long Good Friday with Bob Hoskins in 1980 to her Oscar-nominated performance in the Altman period drama Gosford Park in 2001. Arguably, however, her career reached a pinnacle in 2006 when she appeared in the Stephen Frears movie The Queen and took up the prestigious role of the monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.
Released to much critical and commercial buzz in 2006, the film, penned by the same writer behind The Crown, Frost/Nixon and The Last King of Scotland, Peter Morgan, followed the events that took place in the UK after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997. Focusing specifically on the decisions of the royal family in the spiky aftermath, the film sees Mirren’s titular character try to navigate the media firestorm of the time.
Understanding that the role was an extremely sensitive one, Mirren started by writing a letter to the Queen, telling the Radio Times, “I realised we were investigating a profoundly painful part of her life, so I wrote to her”.
Explaining the detail of the letter, he adds: “I said, ‘We are doing this film. We are investigating a very difficult time in your life. I hope it’s not too awful for you.’ I can’t remember how I put it. I just said that in my research I found myself with a growing respect for her, and I just wanted to say that…She didn’t write back, of course, but her secretary did. You know, ‘Yours sincerely, da di da di da,’ on behalf of the Queen”.
Once that was done, it was up to Mirren to embody the role of the Queen both physically and mentally, with much of this being achieved once the actor donned the wig and glasses. Meticulously reviewing film and video footage of the Queen during production, Mirren also underwent voice coaching to match the exact tone of the monarch, with her performance eventually baffling many cast and crew members on set.
In addition, Mirren also took time out of production to work with the supporting cast of James Cromwell, Alex Jennings and Sylvia Syms, who played other royals, so that they would all be comfortable in each others’ presence when on set.
Mirren’s efforts were eventually rewarded in 2007 when she was handed an Academy Award for Best Leading Actress, beating out the likes of Judi Dench, Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep and Penélope Cruz.
Reacting to the news of the Queen’s real-life passing in September 2022, Mirren took to Instagram to write, “I am proud to be an Elizabethan. We mourn a woman, who, with or without the crown, was the epitome of nobility”.
