Helen Mirren hits back at the stereotype that older women shouldn’t grow their hair
Helen Mirren, 77, hits back at the stereotype that older women ‘shouldn’t’ have long hair, after admitting she ‘couldn’t be bothered’ to cut her ‘radical’ new look
Helen Mirren has responded to the stereotype that older women shouldn’t grow their hair out after debuting her new, longer locks.
The actress, 77, has been showing off her new ‘radical’ look while promoting her appearance as the villainous Hespera in Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
Now, Helen has admitted that she grew her hair out during lockdown and decided she “couldn’t be bothered” cutting it off, planning to keep it for now.
Speaking on Wednesday’s Lorraine, Helen responded to the stereotype that older women shouldn’t have long hair, as it usually thins with age.
She said: ‘You’re not supposed to have longer hair after a certain age.
Tense! Helen Mirren has responded to the stereotype that older women shouldn’t grow their hair out, after unveiling her new longer locks.
“But during Covid, I started growing my hair out and I really haven’t had long hair since I was in my 20s. And it grew and grew and grew, and I basically didn’t bother cutting it.
‘I thought, you know what? It’s cool, I think I’ll stick with that for a while. It will eventually come out.
“But I’m enjoying it, it’s pretty radical.”
Helen also spoke about how she feels flying the flag for women over 60, saying: ‘Life doesn’t stand still. And creativity doesn’t stop, passion doesn’t stop, and energy doesn’t stop, unless you decide to stop it.
‘So it’s just being self-motivated, really, and never giving up. And find enjoyment, if possible, in your life.’
In recent weeks, Helen ditched her signature bob for long platinum waves in a flashback to her ’70s heyday.
Helen previously vowed to challenge beauty standards for older women, insisting her generation has been subjected to age discrimination for “too long.”
She told Grazia in 2019: “It’s extremely annoying for women of my generation and others following mine to sell beauty products on a 15-year-old face.”
Experimenting: The actress is known for wearing her hair in a statement bob (left) or even shorter, but recently she’s been showing off her new longer hair (right)
She also said she doesn’t like to use the term ‘beauty’ because it makes people who aren’t sure about their appearance feel ‘immediately left out’.
‘They’ll think, ‘Well, I’m not very beautiful. It’s all very well for all these beautiful women, but I don’t feel beautiful,’ she explained.
“I don’t want to exclude these people from feeling fabulous about themselves.”
It comes after Dame Helen revealed that she broke her finger while performing her own stunts on the set of Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
The actress said she was “incredibly brave” and did not complain after the incident because she wanted to be a “real ‘trick’ person”.
Speaking about filming action scenes while on The Graham Norton Show, he said, “I did some of my own stunts, but I broke my finger.”
“I was incredibly brave and didn’t say anything or complain because I wanted to be a really ‘trick’ person.”
Speaking about the film in general, he went on to say, ‘Don’t ask me about the plot, it’s too complicated!
‘We are angry goddesses wearing incredibly heavy costumes. It was very hot and uncomfortable, and in fact, Lucy (Liu) said at the end of the first day’s shoot, “They’re trying to kill us” in all seriousness.
‘I wanted to do it because I loved the first Shazam. It was sweet and fun. I’m not a big superhero type of person, but I loved the idea and happily signed up for the second one. That’s great.’
Lorraine airs Monday to Friday from 9am on ITV1 and ITVX.