Helen Mirren Explains Why Comments About Outings With Husband Taylor Hackford Are ‘Insulting’

Helen Mirren is happily married to director Taylor Hackford, but she takes issue with fan “condescension” about their public appearances in relation to their ages.

“The hardest part is the condescension. It really annoys me,” Mirren, 80, told The Times of London in a profile published on Friday, August 22. “If my husband and I are holding hands, someone might say, ‘Oh, look. How sweet.’”

She added, “It’s like, excuse my language, ‘F*** off.’ There’s something very condescending about some people’s attitudes. I think they think they are being kind and generous, but they’re not. They’re being insulting.”

Mirren and Hackford, 80, have been married since 1997, splitting their time between respective homes in the British actress’ native England and Nevada. Mirren’s latest project, The Thursday Murder Club, brought her back across the pond for the production.

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“I had been really missing Britain because I spent a lot of time in America in the past 10 years,” Mirren told The Times. “Shooting in England in the summertime was very appealing. [I have family here, too, which] pulls my heart back here.”

Mirren costars in The Thursday Murder Club with Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie in the upcoming adaptation of Richard Osman’s 2020 novel about four seniors (all amateur sleuths) banding together to solve a murder.

“The story obviously has to hold together and be intriguing for the audience,” Mirren exclusively told Us Weekly at the red carpet premiere earlier this month. “Without really good characters, it really is meaningless.”

Luckily, Mirren — and her castmates — approved of the story line and signed on.

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“If the writing is good and if it jumps off the page at you, if you feel it emotionally and it has some soul and context of drama or humor, and you’re in the company of a director like Chris Columbus and the company of actors like Dame Helen, Sir Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie, then you can go play,” Brosnan, 72, told Us. “I mean, this is what I’ve done all my life as an actor.”

Columbus, 66, for his part, noted to Us that the actors were just a piece of the puzzle that made the film a success.

“You’ve got great actors, great cinematography and music and great production design,” the director said. “All of that comes together, and we pay great attention to detail. That’s one of our philosophies. Every small detail counts.”

The Thursday Murder Club premieres in select theaters August 22 before hitting Netflix August 28.