In praise of Helen Mirren

Watched the latest, and it looks like the final, Prime Suspect on PBS last night and was once again bowled over by Helen Mirren. Her performance was sympathetic but not flattering. Tennyson is a jaded, bitter, frightened alcoholic, looking over her life and questioning her choices, longing for her youth and wondering about paths not taken. I was stricken by Mirren's apparently complete lack of vanity. There's a scene in a shower where her plain face looks as bland as an old, erased blackboard. It added to her credibilty and vulnerability, but I imagine an actress would have to have a might strong self image to allow herself to be photographed that way!

I recently saw Mirren on the big screen as The Queen but saw no traces of Elizabeth in Tennyson, or vice versa. She manages to disappear into her roles. I prefer her work to Meryl Streep's because, unless Streep is doing comedy, I'm always aware that I'm watching a Great Actress at Work. Last night, I was watching Tennyson, not Mirren.

Calendar Girls, The Clearing, Gosford Park … she was wonderful in them all. While I'm going to miss Tennyson, I'm sure she's going to introduce us to many other fascinating women in the future.