When it comes to the world of action, Helen Mirren is no stranger to the genre. She may have an Academy Award for playing Queen Elizabeth II, but she’s also appeared in the action movies RED and RED 2 as well as The Fate of the Furious, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, and F9. Next month, she’ll be making her DC debut in Shazam! Fury of the Gods as Hespera, a daughter of Atlas, alongside Lucy Liu (Kalypso) and Rachel Zegler (Anthea). During a recent appearance on The Graham Norton Show (via Entertainment Weekly), Mirren revealed she broke her finger while filming the superhero sequel. Turns out, Mirren wanted to do some of her own stunts, and it didn’t go quite as planned.
“I was incredibly brave and didn’t say anything or complain because I wanted to be a real stunty person,” Mirren shared about her injury. She joked during the interview, “Don’t ask me about the plot, it’s too complicated! … We are angry goddesses wearing unbelievably heavy costumes. It was very hot and uncomfortable, and, in fact, Lucy said at the end of the first day’s shooting, ‘They are trying to kill us’ in all seriousness.”
Videos by ComicBook.com
Is Helen Mirren in Fast X?
The trailer for Fast X was released earlier this month, and it confirmed Mirren will be returning to the franchise as Magdalene “Queenie” Shaw. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter last year, Mirren revealed that she “begged” franchise star Vin Diesel to be a part of the movies.
“I didn’t ask – I begged!” Mirren shared. “I think I was at some function, and he was there, and I got introduced to him. And I was shameless: ‘Oh God, I’d just love to be in one of your movies! Please let me be in it.’ And then Vin, with that beautiful, deep voice of his, said: ‘I’ll see what I can do.’ And he did it for me. He found this great little role for me, which was perfect. I’d just never done anything like that before – one of those big, big movies. And, in my vanity, I just loved driving and really wanted to do my own driving in a fast car.”
“I have to say Vin Diesel is brilliant,” Mirren told Entertainment Weekly back in 2015. “I love Vin Diesel. He’s a great guy, smart—I love him. It’s partly because of him I’d like to be in one, but also the driving.”
Shazam! Fury of the Gods will be released in theaters on March 17th, and Fast X is being released on May 19th.
