Helen Mirren: it's difficult for women to earn a living in film and TV

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/31/helen-mirren-women-film-tv

Version 0 of 1.

Dame Helen Mirren has said that female actors still find it more difficult than their male counterparts to find work in film and television.

“I’ve been lucky, but if you look at any drama it’s still five-to-one men to women,” she told Radio Times magazine.

“There are a few women in main roles and although it’s changing it’s still difficult for most to earn a living.

“Many I grew up with are immensely talented yet can’t. It’s much easier for men.”

She denied “insanely and outrageously wrong” reports that she is one of the highest-paid female actors in Hollywood, saying: “What else can you do but laugh, so long as the taxman doesn’t take it seriously.”

Mirren also told the magazine she intends to stop working.

“Yes, it would be quite nice. I don’t think ‘dying on the job’ is such a wonderful thing,” she said.

“But I’m driven by competitiveness, always thinking I can do better, and the sheer pleasure of earning a living – a fabulous miracle I’ve never quite got over.”

In her new film, Woman In Gold, Mirren plays Austrian Jewish aristocrat Maria Altmann, who fled Vienna during the second world war and had a long battle to reclaim a Gustav Klimt portrait of her aunt which was looted by the Nazis.

“Antisemitism is still pertinent. People start down that particular road saying they’re nationalistic or proud of their nation, rubbish like that, and set themselves on the first step to horrors,” she said.

“It’s happening again, not just in Europe. It seems to be an endless human story.

“I hope films can address ideas and thoughts that seep into the culture and push society forward.

“It’s incredibly important to the way we form our thoughts and understanding of how life is and how to behave.”

Mirren also said admitted she still sees the “abyss” when she treads the boards and has to combat stage fright.

“Theatre is always nerve-racking. I’m afraid of losing my voice, having enough energy, and not getting sick,” she said.

“Every actor has stage fright, but there are levels, from serious psychotic breakdown, where you lock yourself in your dressing room and refuse to come out. It’s happened to a few actors.

“Not me, but when I’m on stage I see the abyss and have to overcome it by telling myself it’s only a play.

“I don’t know why we should feel like this. If something goes wrong audiences are wonderfully accommodating.”