Helen Mirren reveals how 9/11 'epiphany' inspired her to become an American citizen
Helen Mirren has built a successful acting career in both the United States and her native United Kingdom. However, the Oscar winner, 76, recently revealed that she had a grand "epiphany" following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which inspired her to become a full-fledged American citizen. The actress of ‘The Queen’ is a dual citizen of the United States and the United Kingdom, having obtained a US passport in 2017. Recently in an interview with People, she revealed, “My husband [Taylor Hackford] is American. My stepchildren are obviously American. My nephew lived in America, worked in America. So I had certainly been an American resident for a very long time.”
She then went on to say that she was in New York City at the time of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, rehearsing the Broadway play ‘Dance of Death’ with fellow Brit Ian McKellen. Mirren claimed to have witnessed the second tower collapsing. She recounted, "I realized where my allegiance and my heart and my intellect lay in that confrontation between extremism, religiosity — all those things and everything that America represents. And I thought, ‘I’m an American’, I got an American flag, and I put it outside my window."
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“When I understood, which I hadn’t quite grasped before, that I could be a British citizen and an American citizen — because I would not like to give up my British citizenship — then I thought, ‘Well, that’s great. That’s the perfect world,’” Mirren added. When she finally received her American citizenship, she described it as "so moving." Mirren explained, “I didn’t realize how profound a feeling it would be. It brought up feelings of patriotism that I didn’t think I had. I think it was to do with the intrinsic generosity of America.”
Helen Mirren will next be seen in a biopic about former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, which will be released later this year. The film, titled 'Golda', will premiere later this year and will follow her role as Prime Minister during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. After being chastised by fellow actress Maureen Lipman, Mirren addressed the backlash she received for playing the role.
At the time, Lipman believed that Meir should be played by a Jewish actress. Mirren, who is not of Jewish descent, spoke with the Daily Mail earlier this month about the criticism that the ethnicity question was brought up during casting. She said, “It was certainly a question that I had before I accepted the role,” adding that she discussed the issue with 'Golda' director Guy Nattiv and stated that she would step away from the project if necessary. Mirren also remarked that “I do believe it is a discussion that has to be had – it’s utterly legitimate. You know, if someone who’s not Jewish can’t play Jewish, does someone who’s Jewish play someone who’s not Jewish? There’s a lot of terrible unfairness in my profession.”