Helen Mirren encourages women to get married later in life
If we can look half as good as Helen Mirren at 70 years old, we'll take any advice of hers we can get.
The British actress talks candidly about aging and sexuality in a new interview with The Daily Mail's You magazine, including the fact that she got married to her husband, director Taylor Hackford, at age 52. The pair said "I do" in 1997, 11 years into their relationship.
The "Woman in Gold" star says she is grateful that she got married when she did.
"I think marrying late is a very good idea -- it worked out for me," she says. "In general, I'd say it's not a great idea to marry young. And it's a really terrible idea to get married for the frock."
"I was lucky because I'd worn so many incredible dresses as costumes," she adds. "But girls nowadays have a princess complex -- they're longing to have the gorgeous dress, be the center of attention and live the dream for 24 hours."
Mirren holds nothing back, explaining that she also doesn't like certain types of PDA.
"It annoys me when I see men with an arm slung round their girlfriend's shoulders. It's like ownership," she says. "Of course, when you're young, you want the guy to take your hand and look after you. But when I see girls being leaned on, I want to say, 'Tell him to get his damned arm off your shoulder.'"
When it comes to aging -- although she's obviously doing it gracefully -- the L'Oreal spokeswoman says she actually doesn't even "give a damn."
"I'm a woman that loves makeup and getting dressed up. As I get older, I don't look as good, but I don't give a damn," she says. "There's a huge pressure on young girls to look a certain way these days but, as I age, I've lost that incredible insecurity of youth."
Mirren has never had children, and not surprisingly, though she does have young step-grandchildren via her husband's two sons from his previous marriages, she doesn't subscribe to playing the conventional grandmother role.
"I honestly don't know what the children think of me -- because I come and go in their lives. I'm not baking them cookies on weekends!" she admits. "I waft in and out, and I think they understand that I'm not the normal sort of grandmother."
"All I'd say to them is that aging is an adventure," she says about any advice she could give them. "It's a frightening adventure because health becomes an issue. Growing old is not for pu**ies -- you've got to have courage. But then, you've got to have courage in life anyway."
ET caught up with Mirren's "Woman in Gold"co-star, Ryan Reynolds, in July, when he dished about his chemistry with the beloved actress. "We were like fire and a dry house," Reynolds said. "It was evident from the get-go."
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