Entertainment

Dame Helen Mirren receives prestigious award from Screen Actors Guild

The 76-year-old is to pick up a Lifetime Achievement Award.
The 76-year-old is to pick up a Lifetime Achievement Award. The 76-year-old is to pick up a Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Screen Actors Guild has selected Dame Helen Mirren as their 57th Life Achievement Award recipient.

The 76-year-old stage and screen actress has credits spanning over 50 years and has played everything from a gangster’s girlfriend in The Long Good Friday to Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen.

Dame Helen will be adding this latest honour to a large collection of awards including an Oscar, a Tony, and multiple SAG, Emmy and Bafta Awards.

“I am honoured to have been chosen to receive the SAG Life Achievement Award,” Dame Helen said in a statement.

The Good Liar Photocall – London
The Good Liar Photocall – London Dame Helen Mirren has received many honours during a long career (Ian West/PA)

“Since I was a young actor starting out, I have always been inspired by and learned from American screen acting, so this award is particularly meaningful for me.”

With 13 SAG Awards nominations and five wins, Dame Helen is also the most decorated SAG Life Achievement recipient, the union said.

“Dame Helen Mirren is quite simply a brilliant and luminous talent,” said SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher.

“She has set the bar very high for all actors and, in role after role, she exceeds even her own extraordinary performances. I’ve always felt a kinship with Helen. She’s the Queen of England and I’m the Queen of Queens. She won an Oscar and I’m left-hander of the year. It’s uncanny.”

The 28th annual SAG Awards will be broadcast live from Santa Monica, California, on February 27.