Helen Mirren says it’s “about bloody time” beauty brands embraced older women
At 71 years of age, Helen Mirren is without a doubt one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood.
So it was long overdue when at 69, she was tapped by L’Oréal to become a brand ambassador. It’s a beauty deal typically reserved for 20-something models and their ilk and as Mirren recently exclaimed, “It was about bloody time! I thought, at last, there has been a shift [in the fashion and beauty industry] — I’m talking about age and beauty, but also diversity.”
Mirren was speaking at the Cannes Lions festival this year about the changes in the industry she’s witnessed over her long career.
Speaking about her time living with famed fashion photographer James Wedge in the 1970s, Mirren said, “He could not get a black girl on the front of a magazine. Now, finally, the breakthrough has happened … And now it’s great to see older women, different genders, different religions – the whole diversity of the world we are living in.”
But the Oscar-winning actress also admitted she’s not immune to self-doubt and insecurities.
Mirren herself revealed “the minute I'm not working” she is wracked with insecurity.
“It's a worm in the brain. I don't think any of us are ever absolutely free of it,” the acclaimed actress said. “But it is particularly debilitating and useless in the young.”