Helen Mirren: "A lifetime achievement award is wonderful"

Helen Mirren: "A lifetime achievement award is wonderful"

As of: 30.09.2026 00:01

From November 5, Helen Mirren will star in Anton Corbijn's drama "A Talent for Murder" as Patricia Highsmith. At the Hamburg Film Festival, the 81-year-old leading actress received the festival's Douglas Sirk Prize. Mirren was delighted with the award.

“Receiving an award for an acting performance is uncomfortable. Because acting is not a race. You don't win anything, there is no such thing. But: To be honoured for her life's work - that's wonderful," the British actress told NDR Kultur on Tuesday. Especially when it comes to the last stages of life, as with her.

“It's nice that the whole work is being honored. I started working as an actress at the age of 20. Since then, I have worked continuously - without ever taking a year off. I will be proud of this award," said Mirren.

Helen Mirren: "Douglas Sirk was a wonderful director"

She got to know the melodramas of director Douglas Sirk - "a wonderful director" - through her husband, US director Taylor Hackford. "My husband is basically my film professor. He showed me the films of Douglas Sirk and many other directors." In the evening, she watches the British "Criterion"channel, which specialises in cinema. "They have whole cycles about Douglas Sirk, Mae West, Japanese films. That's fantastic film-making.”

"Ein Talent fürs Morden": German cinema release on 5 November

Now she can be seen in Anton Corbijn's "A Talent for Murder". The director and photographer is known for films such as "Control" and "A Most Wanted Man", which was partly shot in Hamburg. In "A Talent for Murder", Mirren plays the world-famous crime writer Patricia Highsmith, who lives in seclusion in Switzerland. There she meets the young literary agent Edward Ridgeway (played by Alden Ehrenreich).

He wants to move her to a sixth, final novel about Tom Ripley - one of the most famous impostors and murderers in contemporary literary history. Mirren draws Highsmith as a rugged, curious and at the same time vulnerable personality. The film opens in German cinemas on 5 November.

Video:

Filmfest Hamburg: German subtitles for international films (4 min)

Helen Mirren's roles "precise, idiosyncratic and always surprising"

For more than six decades, Mirren has shaped theatre, film and television - from the Royal Shakespeare Company to British television and Hollywood. At the end of the 70s, she was the wife of the mad Roman emperor Caesonia in the scandalous film "Caligula".

"She has the extraordinary ability to give contradiction, humour and humanity to even iconic characters," says Hamburg festival director Malika Rabahallah of the British actress. Mirren is one of the great performers of international cinema. "Whether as Queen, investigator or now as Patricia Highsmith: Helen Mirren's roles are precise, idiosyncratic and always surprising," says Rabahallah.

A lasting influence on the crime genre

Among other things, she became known as investigator Jane Tennison in the TV series "Prime Suspect", which she played from 1991 to 2006 and with which she had a lasting impact on the image of female characters in the crime genre. In the mid-1990s, for example, she ventured into the middle of the Northern Ireland conflict in the moving drama "Mothers and Sons": based on a true story, she played the mother of an imprisoned IRA fighter on hunger strike. Their utter despair is absolutely heartbreaking.

International breakthrough with "The Queen"

The final international breakthrough came with Stephen Frears' "The Queen" (2006): for her portrayal of Elizabeth II, the British actress was awarded the Oscar for best leading actress. She was most afraid of the role. Instead of a mere imitation, she created the multi-layered portrait of a woman between public role and personal vulnerability.

Other well-known films include "The Chef, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover", "Gosford Park", "Calendar Girls", "The Woman in Gold" and "The Duke".

The Douglas Sirk Prize is named after Hamburg-born director Hans Detlef Sierck and has been awarded at the Filmfest Hamburg since 1995 - to personalities who have made a special contribution to film culture. Previous winners include Wim Wenders, Sandra Hüller, Isabelle Huppert, Fatih Akin and Jim Jarmusch.

More than 120 productions at the Hamburg Film Festival

This year, the Hamburg Film Festival will take place until 3 October. More than 120 productions from all over the world will be shown in the festival cinemas Abaton, CinemaxX Dammtor, Metropolis, Passage and Studio Kino.

"Ein Talent fürs Morden" runs at the Filmfest Hamburg on 30 September from 9:30 pm in the Passage Kino.

With information from Patricia Batlle and Lennart Herberhold.

“Shaun the Sheep”creator: “People like handmade things”

In the new feature film "Shaun the Sheep - Spook in the Pumpkin Patch", director Matthew Walker uses stop motion as usual.

Oscars 2027: "Everytime" takes course for best international film

Sandra Wollner's drama is to represent Germany at the Oscars 2027. But İlker Çatak's Berlinale winner "Yellow Letters" also has a chance of being nominated.

Ratzeburg in cinema fever: "Adam's Eight" celebrated its world premiere at the Küchensee

The drama about rowing coach Karl Adam and the gold triumph of the Deutschland-Achters 1960 was shown open air on Friday.

NDR Culture - The Journal

This topic in the program:

NDR 90.3 | NDR Kultur - Das Journal | 09/28/2026 | 10:45 pm

Tags for this article

Film festival

Feature film

Share Socials