Helen Mirren wowed audiences as she accepted her Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award on Sunday night in Los Angeles.
The 76-year-old Oscar winner was introduced by fellow British actress Kate Winslet, who explained she could not be there on the night, instead beaming in remotely.
Winslet, 46, praised Mirren for pushing boundaries for female actresses getting older, and invited Cate Blanchett to finish off the tribute before handing out the award.
Impressive: Helen Mirren wowed audiences as she accepted her Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award on Sunday night in Los Angeles
Taking to the stage, Mirren immediately had the audience laughing as she joked she didn’t like to say the word “sag” at her age.
‘Well, lifetime achievement, Sounds so grand,’ Mirren began. ‘I suppose I’m still alive, so by that measure, I’m eligible. But honestly, any achievement that I’ve succeeded in is the result of my mantra, which is basically, with on time and don’t be an a**.
‘Thank you, SAG, so much for this. I hate to say the word “Sag” at my age. So it’s S.A.G. For me. I’m simultaneously and enormously proud, and driven with the understanding that I absolutely do not deserve this.
Beaming in: The 76-year-old Oscar winner was introduced by fellow British actress Kate Winslet, who explained she could not be there on the night
Presenting: Winslet, 46, praised Mirren for pushing boundaries for female actresses getting older, and invited Cate Blanchett to finish off the tribute before handing out the award
‘And there, there is the conflict that I believe you all understand. Insecurity versus ego, huh? That cocktail that I believe most actors sip in the evening as they contemplate the wonderful gift they received the moment they decided to become an actor.’
So, any way, I’ve been thinking about what to say tonight and I waited for inspiration. And then it came. It came to me, to all those people with whom I have shared my professional life, the actors. I will talk about actors. Oh, my god, what a brilliant idea.’
Her impassioned speech garnered cheers from the audience that included movie stars such as Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon.
Going down a storm: Taking to the stage, Mirren immediately had the audience laughing as she joked she didn’t like to say the word “sag” at her ag
Hit: Her impassioned speech garnered cheers from the audience that included movie stars such as Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon
Mirren is the 57th actor to receive the honor as last year it was not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The London-born star has had quite the storied career as she has earned multiple accolades including being the only person to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting (film, television, and stage) in both the United States and United Kingdom.
She received an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in 2006 film The Queen.
Mirren also earned a Tony Award and a Laurence Olivier Award for the same role in 2013 play The Audience written by playwright Peter Morgan.
When it comes to television she earned three British Academy Television Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards for drama Prime Suspect which aired over seven seasons from 1991 to 2006.
Mirren also earned two more Primetime Emmys for playing Queen Elizabeth I in 2005’s Elizabeth I and her portrayal of Amy Rand in 1999’s The Passion Of Amy Rand. She has been nominated a total of 10 times.
In addition to her Oscar win for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2007, she has been nominated three other times including in 1995 for The Madness Of King George, in 2002 for Gosford Park, and 2010 for The Last Station.
She began her career in her late teens as she excelled on stage with the National Youth Theatre.
Her performance as Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra in 1965 led her to being invited to join the Royal Shakespeare Company before making her West End stage debut in 1975.
Mirren made her breakthrough in film years later as she starred in 1980’s The Long Good Friday.
In 1984 she won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for Cal.
She has starred in several critically acclaimed films including: 2010 (1984), The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989), Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999), Calendar Girls (2003), Hitchcock (2012), The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014), Woman in Gold (2015), Trumbo (2015), and The Leisure Seeker (2017).
Mirren has not exclusively starred in serious dramas as she has been in several action films including: Red (2010) and Red 2 (2013) playing an ex-MI6 assassin, and in the Fast & Furious films The Fate of the Furious (2017), Hobbs & Shaw (2019), and F9 (2021).
SAG AWARD NOMINATIONS 2022
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Murray Bartlett (‘The White Lotus’)
Oscar Isaac (‘Scenes From a Marriage’)
Michael Keaton (‘Dopesick’) – WINNER
Ewan McGregor (‘Halston’)
Evan Peters (‘Mare of Easttown’)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Jennifer Coolidge (‘The White Lotus’)
Cynthia Erivo (‘Genius: Aretha’)
Margaret Qualley (‘Maid’)
Jean Smart (‘Mare of Easttown’)
Kate Winslet (‘Mare of Easttown’) – WINNER
Kate Winslet (‘Mare of Easttown’)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Michael Douglas (‘The Kominsky Method’)
Brett Goldstein (‘Ted Lasso’)
Steve Martin (‘Only Murders in the Building’)
Martin Short (‘Only Murders in the Building’)
Jason Sudeikis (‘Ted Lasso’) – WINNER
Jason Sudeikis (‘Ted Lasso’)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Elle Fanning (‘The Great’)
Sandra Oh (‘The Chair’)
Jean Smart (‘Hacks’) – WINNER
Juno Temple (‘Ted Lasso’)
Hannah Waddingham (‘Ted Lasso’)
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
‘The Great’ (Hulu)
‘Hacks’ (HBO Max)
‘The Kominsky Method’ (Netflix)
‘Only Murders in the Building’ (Hulu)
‘Ted Lasso’ (Apple TV Plus) – WINNER
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Brian Cox (‘Succession’)
Billy Crudup (‘The Morning Show’)
Kieran Culkin (‘Succession’)
Lee Jung-Jae (‘Squid Game’) – WINNER
Jeremy Strong (‘Succession’)
Brian Cox (‘Succession’)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Jennifer Aniston (‘The Morning Show’)
Jung Ho-yeon (‘Squid Game’) – WINNER
Elizabeth Moss (‘The Handmaid’s Tale’)
Sarah Snook (‘Succession’)
Reese Witherspoon (‘The Morning Show’)
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ (Hulu)
‘The Morning Show’ (Apple TV Plus)
‘Squid Game’ (Netflix)
‘Succession’ (HBO) – WINNER
‘Yellowstone’ (Paramount Network)
Yellowstone
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Caitríona Balfe (‘Belfast’)
Cate Blanchett (‘Nightmare Alley’)
Ariana DeBose (‘West Side Story’) – WINNER
Kirsten Dunst (‘The Power of the Dog’)
Ruth Negga (‘Passing)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Ben Affleck (‘The Tender Bar’)
Bradley Cooper (‘Licorice Pizza’)
Troy Kotsur (‘CODA’) – WINNER
Jared Leto (‘House of Gucci’)
Kodi Smit-McPhee (‘The Power of the Dog’)
Ben Affleck (‘The Tender Bar’)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain (‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’)
Olivia Colman (‘The Lost Daughter’)
Lady Gaga (‘House of Gucci’)
Jennifer Hudson (‘Respect’)
Nicole Kidman (‘Being the Ricardos’)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem (‘Being the Ricardos’)
Benedict Cumberbatch (‘The Power of the Dog’)
Andrew Garfield (‘Tick, Tick … Boom!’)
Will Smith (‘King Richard’)
Denzel Washington (‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’)
Denzel Washington (‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’)
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
‘Belfast’ (Focus Features)
‘CODA’ (Apple Original Films)
‘Don’t Look Up’ (Netflix)
‘House of Gucci’ (MGM/United Artists Releasing)
‘King Richard’ (Warner Bros)
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
‘Black Widow’
‘Dune’
‘The Matrix Resurrections’
‘No Time to Die’ – WINNER
‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
‘Cobra Kai’
‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’
‘Loki’
‘Mare of Easttown’
‘Squid Game’ – WINNER
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