If there’s one thing we can say with certainty about this year’s crop of award shows, it’s that they all at least tried to feign some sense of normalcy. For Sunday’s 27th Annual Screen Actor’s Guild Awards, this meant filling the interstitial space between trophy-giving with the requisite bits involving celebrity guests — but instead of typical awards-show banter, we got actors sharing fun facts about themselves straight to camera. And we are the better for it! Case in point: Helen Mirren, who shared priceless factoids about herself in what amounted to be the best parts of the prerecorded ceremony. Here’s what we learned about Dame Mirren on Sunday night.
She watches PEN15.
The Oscar-winner mentioned her love for the Hulu series, which somehow makes perfect sense.
She briefly addressed the fact that, yes, she lives in Nevada for some reason.
She and her husband moved there to be among nature.
She had a “bit of a meeting with a bear” during quarantine.
She explained that, though she was excited to see the bear, she ultimately had to chase the bear away. She doesn’t elaborate further on this.
She can’t ride a horse.
“There are two problems with horse-riding: getting the horse to move, and getting the horse to stop.”
She misses movie-theater popcorn as much as we do.
She elaborated on her hopes for the coming year, namely, “that we find ourselves again in a big, darkened space with a tub of popcorn, and people around us, enjoying that incredible experience of watching a movie in a cinema with an audience.”
She has some thoughts on what her many acting trophies get up to in private.
“My theory is that my SAG award is having a very, very steamy affair with my Oscar. I catch them together and I swear to God that I haven’t put them together.”
