Helen attended The Laurence Olivier Awards at The Royal Opera House in London this evening (April 28, 2013). Pictures from the awards ceremony can now be viewed in the gallery.

Appearances & Events > 2013 > The Laurence Olivier Awards

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April 28, 2013 by Kirsty • Gallery Updates

Helen Mirren was crowned best actress at Britain’s top theatre awards on Sunday for reprising her Oscar-winning portrayal of the queen, while a stage version of a novel about a boy with autism was on track to be the top winner of the Olivier awards.

Mirren, 67, has won stellar reviews for starring in “The Audience”, Peter Morgan’s play about the private weekly meetings between Queen Elizabeth and the 12 British prime ministers during the six decades of her reign.

Mirren is no stranger to royalty having won an Academy award for the same role in the 2006 film “The Queen”.

The actress said the queen certainly deserved an Olivier award after receiving one of Britain’s most prestigious entertainment honors, a BAFTA, earlier this month for her support for the film and television industry.

“I think she deserves one for the most committed and consistent performance of the 20th century and probably the 21st century,” said Mirren on accepting the award from Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe.

Her co-star, Richard McCabe, won the award for best supporting actor for playing the prime minister Howard Wilson.

But the biggest winner of the 37th Olivier awards looked set to be “The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time” that opened at the National Theatre in London in 2012 and transferred to London’s West End theatre district this year.

The play, based on Mark Haddon’s 2003 award-winning novel, was nominated for eight awards and picked up several in the first half of the glitzy awards ceremony at London’s Royal Opera House.

Luke Treadaway won the best actor award for playing 15-year-old Christopher, a maths prodigy with autism who sets out to solve the mystery of who killed his neighbour’s dog.

“The book created such an amazing central character who people seem to relate to even though he has behavioral problems and his way of viewing of the world,” Treadaway, 28, told Reuters on the red carpet on a chilly London evening.

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April 28, 2013 by Kirsty • Articles

The cast of Dame Helen Mirren’s West End play will pay tribute to late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during Monday night’s (8th April 2013) show in the hours after her death.

The play features Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II and focuses on the monarch’s dealings with the British prime ministers who have served during her reign.

It features actress Haydn Gwynne as Thatcher, and it has now emerged there will be a tribute to the late politician at the beginning of Monday night’s performance at London’s Gielgud Theatre.

The play’s writer Peter Morgan will be stepping up to talk about Thatcher, according to Broadwayworld.com, while The Stage theatre critic Mark Shenton writes in a post on Twitter.com, “Tonight’s performance of The Audience, in which Thatcher features, is going ahead. Playwright Peter Morgan will make a speech before.”

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April 08, 2013 by Kirsty • Articles

Dame Helen Mirren is set to thrill her American fans with her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in hit stage show The Audience – the production is heading Stateside next year (2014).

The actress has won rave reviews for her role as the monarch in Stephen Daldry’s West End production, which dramatises pivotal meetings between the Queen and 12 British prime ministers over 60 years – and now U.S. theatre fans will have the chance to see it.

The Daily Mail reports the show is set to open in New York in 2014, and Mirren will resume her role in the play, which is due to finish its London run in June (2013).

The actress says, “There are talks and negotiations going on now, and I will be going to do the play over there around this time next year”.

Mirren reveals she has told producers to carry on the show with another star playing the monarch, adding, “I have other commitments now, but I have urged the producers to continue with another actress, at another theatre. It’s such a good piece, and there are so many people unable to get tickets, that they should re-mount it”.

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April 02, 2013 by Kirsty • Articles

She has won an Oscar, a Bafta and a Golden Globe for her portrayal of The Queen, and now Helen Mirren will have the chance to add an Olivier to her list of awards won for playing Elizabeth II.

Mirren has been nominated in the Best Actress category this year, for her role in the new play The Audience, directed by Stephen Daldry.

The Audience opened to a string of favourable reviews earlier this month, with Charles Spencer, The Daily Telegraph’s theatre critic, calling Mirren’s performance ‘Magnificent’.

The actress will be competing for the award against Hattie Morahan, who won this year’s Evening Standard Theatre Award for her role as Nora in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Billie Piper for The Effect and Kristin Scott Thomas for Old Times.

Sheridan Smith will present the awards this year with Hugh Bonneville in a ceremony on April 28. It will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 2 and later on ITV.

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March 28, 2013 by Kirsty • Articles

Helen attended the Prince’s Trust Celebrate Success Awards at The Odeon, Leicester Square in London today (March 26, 2013). Pictures from the event can now be viewed in the gallery.

Appearances & Events > 2013 > Prince’s Trust Celebrate Success Awards

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March 26, 2013 by Kirsty • Gallery Updates

Dame Helen Mirren drew on Sam Mendes’ acceptance speech at The Empire Film Awards to criticise the lack of women in prominent positions in the film industry.

In her speech accepting the “Legend Award”, Mirren hit out at the male dominated industry after Sam Mendes cited his all-male film inspirations when receiving a gong earlier in the evening.

“It was great to hear Sam’s list of moments that inspired him in the movies. I did however note that there was not a female name behind the camera,” she said.

During a speech when Mendes accepted his Empire Inspiration Award for Skyfall, he credited an all-male list of directors who had created iconic movie moments that inspired him to become a filmmaker, including Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Quentin Tarantino and Francis Copopola.

Mirren, admitting she had been more of a “leg over than a legend”, said: “Nothing against Sam, because they are great moments he chose… but I hope in five or ten years’ time when the next Sam makes his or her speech there will be some more women there,” she said.

“There are some really wonderful female directors coming up. Many of them are British and it’s so exciting to see that. You go girls!”

The lack of female directors has been noted at other industry awards including the Oscars and Baftas.

Kathryn Bigelow became the first female director to win an Academy Award for her film The Hurt Locker as late as 2010.

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March 25, 2013 by Kirsty • Articles