In Conversation With... Helen Mirren

Dame Helen Mirren is the embodiment of a living legend. A master of both theatre and cinema, she is renowned for delivering bold performances with an air of effortlessness that belies her extreme precision.

On stage she has brought to life the visions of Shakespeare, Chekhov, and Strindberg, to name just a few. Her depth of classical training — particularly with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1960s and '70s — translated brilliantly across a daring filmography: The Long Good Friday, Cal (for which she won best actress at Cannes in 1984), Peter Greenaway's astonishing The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, and the TV detective series Prime Suspect. These were star-making parts in which Mirren showed total control — and this was before her fame playing British monarchs: Queen Charlotte in The Madness of King George, the eponymous ruler of Elizabeth I, and her sublime, Academy Award—winning turn as Elizabeth II in The Queen. Her work always illustrates vividly a devotion to exploring a range of human experience.

We are honoured to welcome Dame Helen for this intimate onstage conversation to take a closer look at her newest film, the Festival Gala Presentation selection The Leisure Seeker.

THERESA SCANDIFFIO