Dame Helen Mirren 'intimidated' by 'geezer' Harrison Ford
Dame Helen Mirren was 'intimidated and fascinated' by 'geezer' Harrison Ford when they met more than 37 years ago and insists he is 'still the same' as they reunite on screen all these years later
Dame Helen Mirren was "intimidated and fascinated" by Harrison Ford.
The 77-year-old actress starred alongside her fellow Oscar winner in the 1986 drama film 'The Mosquito Coast' and more than three decades later the pair have reunited to appear as a married couple in 'Yellowstone' spin-off '1923' and she explained he is "exactly the same" all these years on.
She told the latest edition of People magazine: "In his essence, Harrison Ford is the same person he was when I first met him. Impatient with the annoying sides of the great fame that had settled upon him, adult sycophancy, loss of privacy, etc., and yet immeasurably patient and kind to starstruck kids so excited to see their hero.
"His privacy was a profoundly protected place.
"His work was always beautifully designed and constructed, like the carpentry he was so well known for, and I was deeply impressed with his understanding and use of the techniques of film acting.
"He taught me a lot through my observations. He was professional, guarded, and mysterious, and I was both fascinated and intimidated."
The 'Calendar Girls' star - who has been married to director Taylor Hackford since 1997 - went on to describe Hollywood legend Harrison, 80, as a "bloke and a geezer" who she loves but is still "impatient" with the idea of being a world-renowned star.
She said: "Then 30 years of amazing life happened to both of us, and now we are reconnected, and I find a person not guarded, unafraid of feelings and expressing them; generous, funny, as professional as ever, and still impatient with stardom.
"I think the element that makes him the legend that he is and will be is that sense of being the kind of guy you would call when your car got stuck in a ditch and also completely understand why you were so upset about your cat dying and shed some tears with you.
"He is a real God-given movie star, but also a chap, a geezer, a guy, a bloke and a mensch. And along with millions of others, I love him."
