Helen Mirren, Oscar- and Tony-winning queen among commoners, has been refreshingly frank about her lack of desire to have children over the years. Last year, she spoke about her choice to put her career before kids, telling AARP, “I never felt the need for a child and never felt the loss of it. . .I’d always put my work before anything.” In a new interview, however, Mirren admits that there was one film—an 80s comedy-drama—that made her question her decision and, for about 20 tearful minutes, actually regret her choice.
“I have never had a moment of regret about not having children,” the actress tells The Sunday Times in a new interview before backpedaling. “Well, I lie. When I watched the movie, Parenthood, I sobbed for about 20 minutes.”
For those unfamiliar, the Ron Howard-directed comedy-drama stars Steve Martin, Mary Steenburgen, __ Dianne Wiest__, and an incredible ensemble cast as a four-generation family grappling with the prickly truths and all-too-real complexities of the human experiences of child-rearing. In fact, the film made parenting feel so vital to Mirren that it left her bereft.
“I sobbed for the loss of [the chance at parenthood] and the fact that I never experienced it,” Mirren admits, before revealing that the agony was quite short. After shedding tears, the actress says she “got over it” and came to grips, again, with her decision. “I’m quite relieved, actually,” she says of her childlessness.
Take a look at a scene from the film here:
In 2013, Mirren further elaborated on her feelings, telling British Vogue, “[Motherhood] was not my destiny, I kept thinking it would be, waiting for it to happen, but it never did, and I didn’t care what people thought. . .It was only boring old men [who would ask me].”
Mirren, being as blunt as she is, was always quick to respond.
“And whenever they went, ‘What? No children? Well, you’d better get on with it, old girl,’ I’d say ‘No! Fuck off!’”
In an interview with Vanity Fair earlier this year, Mirren confessed that she hoped her legacy would extend beyond blood ancestors, saying, “I can watch film of Ingrid Bergman, [Katherine] Hepburn—you look and say, ‘She was brilliant!’ So I would like people to say that about me.”
