Dame Helen Mirren blasts ‘insulting’ reaction from younger people about her age

Dame Helen Mirren has got a bone to pick with ‘condescending’ comments about her age. 

The Oscar-winning actress celebrated her 80th birthday last week and is currently starring in The Thursday Murder Club, an adaptation of Richard Osman’s fluffy crime thriller set in a retirement community home.

Mirren plays former spy Elizabeth who runs a murder investigation troupe along with three other crime-fighting pensioners played by Pierce Brosnan, Sir Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie. 

Ahead of its release, Mirren said one of the most frustrating aspects of getting older is the response to being out and about with her husband Taylor Hackford from younger people who ‘think they are being kind’. 

‘The hardest part is the condescension. It really annoys me,’ she told The Times. 

‘If my husband and I are holding hands, someone might say, “Oh, look. How sweet.” It’s like, excuse my language, “F*** off.” 

‘There’s something very condescending about people’s attitudes and I think they think they are being kind and generous. But they’re not. They’re being insulting.’

Mirren – whose younger brother Peter and stepson Rio Hackford both died of cancer in their 50s – is following the mantra of her mother, who told her to never be afraid of aging. 

‘You lose certain stuff but you gain other stuff’, she said of getting older. 

‘The tech bros think their billions are somehow going to hold back time. They haven’t learnt my mum’s lesson.

‘It’s a natural wave of life that has been going on for billions of years and it’s beautiful to be part of that wave.

‘It’s what humanity is all about in the end. So it’s important not to wimp out. You’re not going to be 30 when you’re 50. You’re just not.’

The Thursday Murder Club was released yesterday to mixed reviews from critics. Metro said the film ‘felt like a warm hug’ but was ultimately still disappointing in its 3.5 star review. 

The Thursday Murder Club is screening in cinemas nationwide now and will be available to stream on Netflix from August 28. 

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