Helen Mirren is one of the most respected actresses in Hollywood.
She has starred in a bunch of films and TV shows, won five Emmys and an Oscar, and she was even appointed a Dame of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth in 2003.
Behind-the-scenes, The Thursday Murder Club star lives a quiet life with her husband of almost 30 years, director Taylor Hackford.
Here’s everything we know about Helen Mirren’s life offscreen.
WHO IS HELEN MIRREN’S HUSBAND?
Helen first met director Taylor Hackford in 1985 on the set of the film White Nights.
“I did very consciously choose my work over my relationships right up to the time that I met Taylor. I was 38 when I met Taylor, pretty late in life,” the 80-year-old actress told AARP in 2016.
The couple tied the knot in Scotland in 1997, after they’d been together for 11 years.
“We got married in the end because we realised that we were going to be together forever,” she explained. “We got married, ultimately, for legal reasons more than anything else. Estate planning and other complicated things like that.
“And our families, we sensed, wanted us to be married. I always said I have nothing against marriage; it just wasn’t to my taste, like turnips. It took me a very long time to come round to acquiring the taste. I just had to meet the right turnip.”
In February 2024, Taylor told PEOPLE there was “instant passion” when he met The Good Liar star.
“She’s a very sexy girl and she still is. But the reality is, over a period of time, you start to — you mature,” he said. “She’s just a fantastic person to live with, to have a family with. We don’t have children [together], but I had children and she has nieces and nephews and we are all a very close-knit group and that’s lovely.”
DOES HELEN MIRREN HAVE KIDS?
Helen Mirren did not have children of her own but she is the step-mum to Taylor’s two sons from previous relationships.
“I kept thinking it would be, waiting for it to happen but it never did, and I didn’t care what people thought. I have never had a moment of regret about not having children,” she once told Closer magazine.
The Oscar-winner told the Sunday Times Culture magazine in 2016 that the only time she regretted not having kids was when she was watching a particular movie.
“I love children, they are so funny and so sweet, but I never wanted my own,” she said. “I have never had a moment of regret about not having children. Well, I lie. When I watched the movie Parenthood, I sobbed for about 20 minutes.”
“It was about the whole story of being a parent and how it never stops, even when you’re a grandparent. I realised I would never experience that, and for about 20 minutes, I sobbed for the loss of that and the fact that I never experienced it,” she continued.
“Then I got over it and I was happy again.”
Taylor welcomed his first son, Rio Hackford, with his first wife Georgie Lowres. After splitting from Georgie in 1972, he went on to marry Lynne Litman, and the former couple share a son named Alexander Hackford.
In 2022, Rio died at the age of 51 from a rare and aggressive cancer. He was an actor who had starred in a variety of movies and TV shows including Pretty Woman, The Mandalorian, Treme, American Crime Story, Fred Claus, Swingers, True Detective and Pam & Tommy.
The couple told PEOPLE at the time they were “both inspired by the life of our son and stepson, Rio Hackford, and heartbroken by his loss. His life showed us how to live in generosity and community.”
“He shared his life’s journey with so many who now mourn him, and at the same time, celebrate their fortune in knowing him,” they added.
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