Academy Award-winning actress Helen Mirren has shared her thoughts on her beauty legacy, emphasizing that she prefers the term “swagger” over “beauty.”
In a recent conversation at an event, Mirren revealed her dislike for the word “beauty.” She hopes to be remembered for something more significant regarding her personal aesthetic. “I don’t like the word beauty. I’ve always preferred the word swagger. So my legacy would be: ‘She had good swagger,’” she stated.
Mirren has previously discussed her key style tip for the red carpet, highlighting the importance of footwear. “I’ve learned over the years, your shoes have to be bearable,” she mentioned during the Cannes Film Festival in May. She continued, “They don’t necessarily have to be comfortable. In fact, comfortable sometimes is a bit boring, and you want cool shoes. But they have to be bearable because if you’re in unbearable pain, that is going to reflect on your face and your posture. So you start with the shoes, and just make sure that you’re secure in them and they’re bearable.”
The actress expressed that she has reached a stage in her career where comfort in fashion is crucial, a shift from her earlier perspective. “I’ve come to a point where I just want (my red carpet outfit) to be comfortable as well,” she said at Cannes. “Beauty knows no pain. I have been there more than once, you know, sucking up the pain for my vanity. But again, it reflects on your face if you’re comfortable.”
Mirren also described the red carpet as a performative experience. “(A red carpet is) a performance. It is like going onstage, really, and I treat it as such. It’s a sort of wonderful, fun, silly performance. It’s not going to last forever. It has huge meaning for a second or two, and then the meaning is gone, and we’re onto something else,” remarked the Queen actress.
In an interview last October, Mirren reflected on aging and why she considers reaching the milestone age of 80 “beautiful.” “I find everything about it (fabulous),” she expressed. “I’m alive and I’m working and I can drink a glass of wine and I can wear makeup and I can listen to music and I can watch a beautiful sunset and I can go to the theater and I can watch a movie and I can binge Netflix and I can live life. It’s a beautiful thing.”