'My sexy reputation will follow me to my grave': Helen Mirren, 70, talks being a sex symbol while addressing her choice to not have children

By Heidi Parker For Dailymail.com

Published: 12:07 EST, 29 November 2016 | Updated: 13:49 EST, 29 November 2016

Helen Mirren has a reputation for being a sex symbol with everyone from Collin Farrell to James Marsden lusting after her, even in her senior years.

And now the 70-year-old actress - who is promoting her new film Collateral Beauty - has told the December/January issue of AARP The Magazine she doesn't think she will ever shake the image.

'I think it’s probably going to follow me to my grave,' the Oscar winner said.

Still alluring: Helen Mirren talked to the December/January issue of AARP

We agree: The 70-year-old actress said she will have her sex symbol image follow her to the grave as she posed on a bed

The star was a pinup in her youth when she starred in such classics as 1981's Excalibur.

In 2008 Helen became a sex symbol all over again when an image of her toned tummy and shapely legs was on display while wearing a pink bikini.

Also in AARP, the star talked being a senior citizen while being photographed by Miller Mobley. 

Men love her: Mirren has a reputation for being a sex symbol with everyone from Collin Farrell to James Marsden lusting after her, even in her senior years

'The best thing about being over 70 is being over 70,' she began.

'Certainly when I was 45, the idea of being 70 was like "Arghhh!"' she said.

'But you only have two options in life: Die young or get old. There is nothing else.'

Va voom: The star was a pinup in her twenties when she starred in such classics as 1981's Excalibur. Her she is seen in 1970

Still hot: In 2008 Helen became a sex symbol all over again when an image of her toned tummy and shapely legs was on display while wearing a pink bikini

She added: 'The idea of dying young when you’re 25 is kind of cool – a bit romantic, like James Dean. But then you realize that life is too much fun to do that. It’s fascinating and wonderful and emotional.

'So you just have to find a way of negotiating getting old psychologically and physically.' 

And she addressed not having children.

“It’s very hard to unpick your choices and a lot of it was luck,' she said.

The young guys love her: James Marsden planted a kiss on the star on The Ellen Show this week

'But a lot of it was choice, absolutely. So yes, I did very consciously choose my work over my relationships right up to the time that I met Taylor.'

10 QUESTIONS FOR MIRREN 

Brexit? 'Terrifying – tribalism, nationalism and self-protection.'

Cheddar Cheese? 'American cheddar is so ghastly.'

Viagra for women? 'Yes. It’s time that was addressed.'

Photo retouching? 'A little bit’s very nice, thank you very much.'

London’s East End? 'It’s absolutely my sense of identity.'

Actor Edward Norton? 'He’s a very smart cat. Really smart.'

Rules? 'It’s good to break your own rules on a regular basis.'

Diets? 'I carry and let go of the same 10 pounds.'

The word 'slut'? 'I love the way young women are claiming it.'

Muhammad Ali? 'We’ve sanctified him, but he had a mean streak.'

 

Taylor is director Taylor Hackford. They wed in 1997.

'I was 38 when I met Taylor, pretty late in life,' she said.

'We got married in the end because we realized that we were going to be together forever. We got married, ultimately, for legal reasons more than anything else. Estate planning and other complicated things like that. And our families, we sensed, wanted us to be married.

'I always said I have nothing against marriage, it just wasn’t to my taste, like turnips. It took me a very long time to come round to acquiring the taste. I just had to meet the right turnip.' 

Kate Winslet also talked to AARP about Mirren.

'You could sit and talk about anything with Helen, for hours,' Winslet said.

'Anything from boobs to boys, work to what we were going to drink at cocktail hour. And we would all sit and run our lines together. Which is all you ever hope for on set. She is everyone’s friend. And she is out-of-control sexy and beautiful! We all wanted to make out with her.' 

Taken: Mirren explained why she wed late in life: 'I always said I have nothing against marriage, it just wasn’t to my taste, like turnips,' she said. She wed Taylor Hackford in 1997

 

 

 

 

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