Helen Mirren's Advice to Her Hypothetical Daughter: Tell 'Testoneroney' Men No
If actress Helen Mirren had a daughter, the first thing that she would teach her is how to tell men no.
Mirren has been in the acting world since 1965 when she began at the Royal Shakespeare Company. In a recent interview the actress revealed that she has dealt with years of sexism while working in the film industry. When she began her career, men vastly outnumbered women.
"The 60s were not great, the 70s were really crap; the 60s and 70s were pretty ghastly, I think," the actress told Daily Mail. "And into the 80s, as an actress, you would be the only female on set, apart from the continuity person, who was always a woman, and maybe your own personal wardrobe person."
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The actress also said that the type of men she was often surrounded by were "testosteroney" and "quite hard to deal with."
"You had to have a sense of humour, put your head down," she noted. "You were never going to be one of the boys, if you know what I mean."
Now 67, the actress was born in London in 1945 and says that she grew up in a time where it was harder for women to say no. Mirren doesn't have any children, but if she did, she would advise her daughters on how to talk to men.
"If I'd had children and had a girl, the first words I would have taught her would have been 'f--- off" because we weren't brought up ever to say that to anyone, were we?" she said. "And it's quite valuable to have the courage and the confidence to say, 'No, f--- off, leave me alone, thank you very much.'"
Mirren regretted the last part of that sentence.
"You see, I couldn't help saying 'Thank you very much,' I just couldn't help myself," she added.
