Sunday, December 15, 2024

Dame Helen Mirren’s Philosophy About Work and Acting: “Turn up on time and don’t be an —“

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Dame Helen Mirren, Oscar and Tony winner, one of the greats, stars in “Eye in the Sky,” a movie that may turn out be a sleeper hit when it opens Friday.

At lunch today at the four star French bistro Le Grenouille, Dame Helen was asked by Ann Curry– moderating a panel with Mirren and director Gavin Hood– what her philosophy is about work and acting.

Mirren did not hesitate: “I guess I’d say Turn up on time, and don’t be an asshole.”

And really, if we all lived by that slogan, the world would be a better place!

It was great to see Ann Curry, freed from NBC News and making documentaries. Another former Today show veteran, Katie Couric, came to the lunch, as well as famed news correspondent Bob Jamieson, the great theater and movie director Julie Taymor, and Arianna Huffington. My own lunch table was filled with newshounds including Richard Cohen and Warren Hoge, as well as Sandy Brandt and Eleanor Kennedy.

“Eye in the Sky” premieres tomorrow night with a red carpet flourish and hits screens Friday. So far it has a 100 rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Bleecker Street president Andrew Karpen, “I’ve never seen a movie where people both anti-war and pro-military thinks it speaks to them. That says a lot.”

I won’t ‘drone’ on here. but wait til Thursday for more about this extraordinary film.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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