Dame Helen Mirren believes that Catherine the Great – the 18th-century Russian Empress who was notorious for being sexually liberal – has taught her to be more open. After arriving on the red carpet (in a golden sedan chair carried by four men, naturally) to the show’s UK premiere, Dame Helen explained that she ‘couldn’t get [her] head around Catherine’s sexual liberation.’ The monarch engaged in multiple affairs after dethroning her aggressive husband, Peter III.
‘I’ve obviously been through the sexual liberation, the 60s, and all the rest of it, but in reality, we are still coming out of a Victorianism, a Protestant puritanism,’ the Oscar-winning actress explained at an onstage Q&A led by Dame Joan Bakewell. ‘We are still, as a culture, a society, coming out of it. We have certain attitudes – I have them. And I think of myself as a liberated woman.’ To come to terms with Catherine’s sexuality, Dame Helen decided to ‘think like a bloke.’ She added: ‘I thought you’ve just got to think like a man, because men don’t have a problem with it.’
In a separate interview, the 79-year-old states that Catherine’s portrayal throughout history has been misogynistic. ‘It’s appalling, the way history treats successful, powerful women. It has to pull them down. Her unbelievable achievements were very successful, obfuscated by history.’
‘You look at the way Louis XIV or Henry VIII behaved – their behaviour was completely unacceptable, whereas Catherine had a series of four or five relationships, which in any modern woman’s life is not that many.’ She continued: ‘She certainly was never the sort of mad creature that history made her out to be.’
Dame Helen, who feels connected to the drama thanks to her Russian heritage, last night added that she sees Catherine as a role model for all women. ‘I learned that women, if they have the capability, they can do absolutely anything,’ she said. ‘That was the defining ability of Catherine – the ability to work incredibly hard – and she became the Empress of Russia.’
The HBO/Sky mini-series, which will air on 3 October, delves into the ‘politically tumultuous and sexually charged life of the most powerful female monarch in history.’ The show will focus on the Empress’s passionate affair with Grigory Potemkin, played by Jason Clarke