Helen Mirren: Playing Queen Elizabeth tougher than RED

By Tribute News on July 23, 2013 | 1 Comment

Dame Helen Mirren says playing Queen Elizabeth was "much more work" than playing Victoria in RED 2. The actress - who reprises her role as CIA agent-turned-pensioner Victoria in the action film - admits it was difficult portraying the British monarch in The Queen because she's a living person and thus found it much easier to portray the gun-wielding femme fatale. Quizzed which role she finds easier, she told BANG Showbiz: "Oh gosh, probably Victoria. I'm not saying that I'm remotely alike; I'm not a CIA agent or an MI5 agent, but the queen is a very specific person living in a very specific world that I know nothing about, and can never come near. That was much more work." The 67-year-old screen icon can also relate to her character in the movie, feeling there is a parallel between the rambunctious Victoria - who refuses to retire from her secret spy career - and actors who continue acting in their senior years. Speaking at the RED 2 European premiere at the Empire Cinema in London's Leicester Square yesterday, she said: "I think so, absolutely there's a parallel. It was very gratifying to play a character that you could identify with in that sense." Having played a secret agent in RED, Helen reveals she would love to play a villain in a James Bond film. She added: "I'd love to be a villain in a James Bond movie. But also I'd like to play Catherine the Great."Other stars who walked the red carpet included Helen's co-stars Helen Mirren and Mary Louise Parker, as well as David Haye and Katie Melua.

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1. MovieGoer • July 23, 2013 @ 1:22 PM

   And did Helen hold Helen’s hand?

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