Helen Mirren believed that the bikini snapshot her husband captured of her on the beach would remain a private, intimate moment – but internet didn’t listen

Helen Mirren has definitely earned a legion of fans throughout her more than 50-year career as an actress, and her commitment to ageing naturally has garnered her even more popularity.

Mirren started off in the entertainment industry as a theater actress, joining the Royal Shakespeare Company before making her debut on London’s West End in 1975.

Though, the now-78-year-old didn’t become a household name until later on in her life – she was 35 when she landed her breakout role as a gangster’s girlfriend in ‘The Long Good Friday’ (1980), opposite Bob Hoskins.

Having focused on her career for much of her adult life, finding the right partner and having children wasn’t on Mirren’s radar… Until she met her now-husband – US film director Taylor Hackford.

“I was 38 when I met Taylor, pretty late in life,” she stated in a 2016 AARP interview, recalling how the director had kept her waiting for an audition when they first met. When she eventually landed the part, the pair got to know each other and their relationship grew from there.

Eventually, Mirren and Hackford were able to bond over their similar working class upbringings (her mother was a working class woman whose own family came from a long line of butchers, while Mirren’s father was a Russian aristocrat who escaped to the UK during the Russian Revolution and became a cab driver to support his family).

The future spouses also bonded over their love for traveling, and apparently had a similar view on storytelling, both being in the entertainment industry.

Even though Hackford’s two children from previous marriages supported Mirren’s union with their father, this didn’t change her stance on becoming a mother herself. Though, she did explain that she found Hackford’s dedication to being the best parent to his children rather endearing.

The pair eventually married in 1997, after they came to the realization that they knew they would be together forever. At that point, they’d been together for over a decade.

The infamous swimsuit photo

Fast forward to 2008, and Mirren went viral for an image her husband snapped of her at the beach… Something that stunned fans and even the legendary actress herself!

The married couple had been on a romantic Italian beach vacation when they trekked to a secluded beach spot to take in the breathtaking views in private.

She recalled how she took a photo of her husband and then, in return, he snapped a quick pic of her. Though, Mirren said that the moment she sucked in her stomach when posing, she saw a small flash in the distance and crouched down on the rocks to hide from the apparent paparazzo.

When Mirren’s husband turned around, he couldn’t see the paparazzo, and said his wife was just being “paranoid”. Though, sure enough, the photo taken of Mirren in a red bikini was posted by a tabloid and went viral everywhere.

A few years later the actress told Ellen DeGeneres on the latter’s talk show that the image was just a fluke, saying: “I look at that picture and say, god, I wish I look like that. But I don’t.”

Years later, people are still stunned by the image of Mirren, who was 63 years old at the time it was taken – with many people on the internet commenting that they don’t look half as good as her despite being decades younger!

In 2014, the Oscar winner spoke about the image just before her 68th birthday, telling People: “The truth is I don’t really look that good, it was just a flattering picture.”

She added: “I am beyond the bikini-wearing age, really. I wouldn’t normally wear one. I look like a woman in her 60s. I’ve always looked awful in a bikini, even when I was young.”

What do you think of Helen Mirren’s stunning bikini image? Let us know in the comments!

If you liked this article, then you’ll definitely be interested in reading about how Julie Andrews made a rare public appearance at 87.

Malia Obama, 25, debuted a new moniker as she began her Hollywood career

Growing up in front of the eyes of the public isn’t something Malia Obama is not familiar with. Being the daughter of the former president of the United States, Barak Obama, she has spent her life under the limelight, and even today, the media is interested in her every move.

The 25-year-old just presented her directorial debut, The Heart, at the Sundance Film Festival. In the Sundance Institute’s “Meet the Artist” spotlight video, Malia Obama revealed she was going by the name Malia Ann, thus ditching her moniker.

Malia, who was born Malia Ann Obama on July 4, 1998, has her middle name honoring her paternal grandmother, who died from ovarian cancer at the age of 52 in 1995, and now, she has dropped her last name in favor of her middle name.

Speaking of the short film for which she served as both director and screenwriter, Malia said. “This is an odd little story, somewhat of fable, about a man grieving the death of his mother after she leaves him an unusual request in her will.” Further, in the YouTube clip of the short film, she wrote, “The film is about lost objects and lonely people and forgiveness and regret, but I also think it works hard to uncover where tenderness and closeness can exist in these things.”

The Heat isn’t her first attempt into the profession. Previously, the Harvard grad worked in the writers’ room on Donald’s Amazon Prime show Swarm, co-writing the fifth episode, “Girl, Bye.”

“She’s a very professional person,” Swarm‘s co-creator Janine Nabers said Malia in a January 2023 Vanity Fair interview. “She’s an incredible writer and artist. She made significant contributions… She’s very, truly committed to her craft.”

Swarm‘s executive producer Stephen Glover also spoke of Malia. “We can’t be easy on her just because she’s the [former] President’s daughter,” he told Vanity Fair. “No, she is really down-to-earth and cool. So it’s not an issue at all.”

Malia Obama isn’t the first celebrity who made the decision to ditch their family name. Other celebs have done that before, including Nicolas Cage, who changed his last name from Coppola, and Angelina Jolie, who dropped her surname, Voight.

For her directorial debut, Malia looked cozy, with minimal makeup, her curly hair down with small braids scattered throughout.

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