Helen Mirren recalls the pressure of playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen and the Oscars moment she’ll never forget

September 2026 marks twenty years since the release of the movie The Queen, in which the very talented Helen Mirren took on the role of Queen Elizabeth II. Though Mirren took on several layered roles through the years, her performance in this movie became one of her most significant, depicting her ability to completely embody the character.

The Queen explores the complexities that took place after the death of Princess Diana in 1997. In a previous interview with PEOPLE, Helen Mirren opens up about the challenges of playing Queen Elizabeth II in that movie, along with a memorable moment during the Oscars.

Helen Mirren on portraying Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen and more

In the interview, Helen Mirren dives deep into the challenges that came up while taking on the role of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen. She notes that as the movie explored a topic that was never “done before,” there was a layer of uncertainty and pressure that she came across. She indicates that taking on the role of Queen Elizabeth II meant diving into a “very unknown territory at the time”.

The main reason was that the British "have a very extraordinary" and "very profound emotional relationship with their monarchy", especially with “the queen”. Mirren notes that this aspect of the British is present because Queen Elizabeth II was “there for such a long time” and was “such an icon”. In the interview, Mirren adds that taking on the role was “intimidating” as there was uncertainty regarding “how that was going to be received”.

However, despite the uncertainty and the intimidation that Mirren felt while portraying such a significant role in The Queen, the eventual result moved in a positive direction. Her performance in the movie brought her immense positive response from the viewers. She also received several nominations and awards for her performance in the movie.

In the interview, Mirren also speaks about an incident that took place at the Academy Awards ceremony in 2007 when she received the award for Best Actress for this movie. She notes that at the end of the night, when she came down into the auditorium, she came across Leonardo DiCaprio. During this fateful moment, Leonardo DiCaprio took her hand and “bowed down and kissed it”.

The moment was then captured by a photographer, freezing the memorable moment. According to Mirren, this particular moment would be followed by a “downhill,” as “nothing could be as fabulous as that”. It cannot be denied that Helen Mirren taking on Queen Elizabeth II’s character in The Queen etched a path in the world of entertainment where multiple projects based on the monarchy could arrive.

In the interview, Mirren adds that now “it’s been done over and over and over again”. Hence, the uncertainty of treading an “unknown territory” is not there. Besides Mirren, some of the other cast members of the 2006 movie are Michael Sheen, Alex Jennings, James Cromwell, Sylvia Syms, etc.

Some of Mirren’s other notable projects that can also be added to your watchlist, which depict Mirren’s distinct acting prowess, are Gosford Park, Hitchcock, Catherine the Great, The Hundred-Foot Journey, etc.

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