Dame Helen Mirren, 78, enjoys a romantic pre-Valentine’s Day date night with her director husband Taylor Hackford, 79
Dame Helen Mirren enjoyed a romantic pre-Valentine’s Day date night with her director husband, Taylor Hackford, in Beverly Hills on Tuesday.
The Oscar-winning actress, 78, wore a black coat over a stunning black lace dress and black boots as the couple headed home after dinner at Italian restaurant Funke.
The screen icon swept her hair out of her face with a chic headband that has become her signature look, and she carried a dark gray bag.
Taylor, 79, wore a black bowler hat, blue blazer and dark brown shoes. He also wore a black sweater with a white undershirt.
The couple, who have been married for 27 years, lovingly linked arms as they emerged from the chic eatery after their dinner.
Dame Helen Mirren enjoyed a romantic pre-Valentine’s Day date night with her director husband, Taylor Hackford, in Beverly Hills on Tuesday
Helen can currently be seen in the American western historical drama 1923 opposite Clint Eastwood.
The series follows the Dutton family during the Great Depression and the second series is expected to air in mid-2024.
Taylor is working on a film titled Sniff, starring Helen, Al Pacino, Morgan Freeman and Danny DeVito.
The last film Taylor directed was 2016’s The Comedian, which starred Robert De Niro in the title role and received negative reviews.
Helen married Taylor, who was previously chairman of the Directors Guild Of America, in Scotland in 1997 after more than a decade of dating.
The two met in 1985 when Taylor directed Helen in the musical drama White Nights, but the two did not get along, as the actress was unusually cold towards him.
1985 was the same year that the star’s highly publicized five-year relationship with Liam Neeson sadly failed.
Helen was previously proud of the quality time she and her husband spent together ‘for the first time in thirty years’ during the peak of the Covid pandemic.
The Oscar-winning actress, 78, wore a black coat over a stunning black lace dress and black boots as the couple headed home after dinner at Italian restaurant Funke.
During a 2022 appearance on the Graham Norton show, she opened up about the impact of lockdown on her relationship.
Helen said: ‘For the first time in thirty years of our marriage we sat opposite each other at the table and ate together every night for six months – it was fantastic, brilliant.’
She has no children with Taylor, or even any at all, a decision she does not regret. She burst into tears over the film Parenthood and admitted she “sobbed” for 20 minutes after being moved by the message that being a mother is a lifelong job and never stops, even as a grandparent.
“I realized I would never experience that,” she said The Sunday Times in 2016. “I cried over the loss of that and the fact that I never got to experience it. Then I got over it and was happy again.’
Dame Helen describes children as ‘funny’ and ‘sweet’ but has never wanted her own and said that, apart from her emotional outburst over Parenthood, she has never experienced a ‘moment of regret’.
“I’m actually quite relieved,” the Emmy Award winner said of her decision not to have children of her own.
‘I can feel that kind of love for my extended family and of course it’s not the same as ‘that lioness love’ – and I certainly don’t want to disrespect it. But I feel like as an aunt I can be less judgmental. You’re not that involved.’
Through her marriage to Taylor, Helen had two children from his first two marriages: Rio, who sadly passed away in 2022, and Alexander Hackford.
The couple have been married for 27 years and tied the knot in Scotland in 1997 (pictured at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival)