The Queen star Helen Mirren mourns Elizabeth II: 'The epitome of nobility'
Dame Helen Mirren, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II, is mourning the late monarch following her death at age 96 on Thursday.
"I am proud to be an Elizabethan," Mirren wrote on Instagram shortly after Buckingham Palace announced the Queen's death. "We mourn a woman, who, with or without the crown, was the epitome of nobility."
Mirren received an Academy Award for playing the monarch in the 2006 film The Queen, which took place in the immediate aftermath of Princess Diana's death. Earlier this year, the actress spoke with EW's Patrick Gomez about the role and the subsequent publicity tour for the film.
POOL - Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images; Everett Collection Queen Elizabeth II and Dame Helen Mirren in The Queen
"I knew I was stepping into the hornet's nest," the star said. "The British have a very conflicted relationship with the monarchy. On the one hand, they love to mock them and criticize them and give them a hard time in every possible way. And on the other hand, they have a profound love for the institution, the history — and, in particular, for the Queen."
Rather than researching the '90s-era Elizabeth, Mirren said she prepared for director Stephen Frears' 2006 biopic by focusing on "who she was before the mantle came and the crown descended on her head." She also pulled from her Emmy-winning performance in HBO's 2005 miniseries Elizabeth I. "It was interesting to find there are great equivalences between the two," she said of portraying the distant relatives. "For an actor, it was a very fascinating journey to make."
Mirren was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's 2003 Birthday Honors.
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