Helen Mirren to Hollywood: Us Brits Are Always the Villains

To honor British actors in Hollywood and, implicitly, their impressive contribution to the movie industry, BritWeek was started. The 2010 edition took place in Los Angeles the other night and saw high-profile British stars walk the red carpet. Dame Helen Mirren couldn’t have been absent given her Oscar win and her stunning performances in each new project.

As Contact Music can confirm, while on the red carpet, the star also used the opportunity to point out the obvious: not all Brits are stuck-up and snotty, and therefore, always casting them as the villain encourages the perpetuation of stereotypes. Neither are the British only about the Royal Family, Mirren says, asking the American audiences and industry people to learn to see her people as the diverse, wonderfully unique men and women they are.

“Dame Helen Mirren is tired of movie bosses casting so many British actors as villains in films – insisting it panders to a stereotype. The veteran actress has slammed film chiefs for frequently portraying baddies on the big screen with a UK accent, insisting not all Brits are ‘stuck-up, malevolent’ characters. And Mirren – who has played a British monarch in three films, including Oscar-winning movie The Queen – also wants Americans to realize that British people aren’t ‘just the Royal Family’,” Contact Music writes of Mirren’s red carpet statement.

“It’s unfortunate that the villain in every movie is always British. It’s just nice to say we’re not snooty, stuck-up, malevolent, malignant creatures as we’re so often portrayed. We’re actually kind of cool and hip. It's very important to let Americans know that we’re not just the Royal Family. I love the idiosyncrasy of the British, their eccentric nature and their boldness in fashion. They have a very good eye for what’s cool and hip and nuts,” the outspoken actress said.

Mirren herself is proof of how “cool and hip” the British can be: not only is she a gorgeous woman who has a very enviable and universally acclaimed career, but she’s also constantly trying to reinvent herself and stand out from the crowd. The latest example in this sense would be her hand tattoo, which she’s come to hate, precisely because, these days, it’s normal occurrence to have a tattoo, whereas when she got it only sailors and bikers had one.