Helen Mirren, 77, smashes stereotypes that older women shouldn't grow hair after debuting 'radical' look
LAKE TAHOE, NEVADA: Helen Mirren opened up about growing her hair during the Covid-19 pandemic as she addressed the stereotype that older women "shouldn't" have long hair. The 77-year-old actress debuted her "radical" new look as she flaunted her long icy blonde tresses while promoting her appearance as the villain Hespera in 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods.'
Mirren admitted that she "couldn't be bothered" to chop off her hair and is planning to keep it it that way. During an interview on ITV’s Lorraine on Thursday, March 8, she dismissed the stereotype that older women are not "supposed" to have long hair as it generally thins with age. She said: "You're not supposed to have longer hair after a certain age. But during Covid, I started growing my hair and I hadn't actually had long hair since I was in my 20s. And it sort of grew and grew and grew, and I couldn't be bothered to cut it, basically." She continued to talk about how much she has been enjoying her new look. "I thought, do you know what, it's pretty cool, I think I'll stick with it for a little while. It will come off eventually. But I'm kind of enjoying it, it's quite radical," she said, as per HollywoodLife.
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'Life doesn't stop'
Mirren also shared her thoughts on how she has continued to be an inspiration for women to keep working as they’ve gotten older. "Life doesn't stop. And creativity doesn't stop and passion doesn't stop and energy doesn't stop, unless you decide to stop it," she said. So it's just be self-motivated, really, and never give up. And find enjoyment, if it's possible in your life."
Mirren on beauty standards
Mirren, who abandoned her signature bob hairstyle, has previously vowed to defy beauty standards for older women as she insists that her generation has been subject to ageism for "far too long." According to Daily Mail, she told Grazia in 2019: "It's extremely annoying to women of my generation and others following mine to have beauty products sold on a 15-year-old face." Mirren also opened up about why she doesn't like using the term "beauty." She explained: "They'll think, 'Well, I'm not very beautiful. It's all very well for all these beautiful women, but I don't feel beautiful.' I don't want to exclude these people from feeling fabulous about themselves."