She plays an army colonel in this new spy thriller.
Helen Mirren is among the many actresses of this day and age who are trying to push for more dynamic roles for women, and one of the ways she believes they can do that is by chasing parts initially written for men. It's worked for her and Sandra Bullock, so why not?
Helen Mirren stars in Eye In The Sky
Until gender equality is truly accepted in Hollywood, powerful 'strong' roles will be given to men and the more demure roles to women. Helen Mirren is working to change that by starring in the military thriller 'Eye in the Sky' in which she plays an army intelligence colonel conducting a drone operation in Kenya from a base in London.
'You look at a scene and it's going to be all men around a table and you think at least half of those could have been women', she told BBC News. 'The only time that there is more women on the set as extras is a swimming pool scene and they're all in bikinis.'
Watch the trailer for 'Eye In The Sky' here:
It wasn't Mirren that insisted the originally male role be swapped to female though; it was a last minute decision made by director Gavin Hood and producers including Colin Firth.
'The film is about the discussions people have when they leave the cinema and having a woman in that role allows you to make that discussion', Mirren continued. 'As opposed to saying 'well that's men, that's what men do in war' ... I think Gavin very astutely understood and realised putting a woman [in the role] just changed the discussion.'
It has an echo of Sandra Bullock's recent portrayal of political consultant Jane Bodine in 'Our Brand Is Crisis', who landed the role despite early suggestions that George Clooney may be taking on the role.
'Eye In The Sky' is released in UK cinemas today (April 15th 2016).
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