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Helen Mirren, Set To Be Honored At Awards Show, Details Her Patriotism And Becoming A US Citizen

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Caroline Elliott Contributor
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Helen Mirren, who is set to receive the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award Feb. 27, shared details about her feelings of patriotism in a People magazine interview published Saturday.

In the interview, the 76-year-old British actress discussed the experience of becoming a U.S. citizen in 2017 and the feelings of patriotism surrounding it. Mirren described the moment to People magazine as “so moving.”

“I didn’t realize how profound a feeling it would be,” said Mirren. “It brought up feelings of patriotism that I didn’t think I had. I think it had to do with the intrinsic generosity of America.”

Mirren is an award-winning actress in both the U.K. and the U.S. When the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks occurred, Mirren was working in New York City, according to People.

“I saw the second tower come down,” she told the outlet. “I had an epiphany. I realized where my allegiance and my heart and my intellect lay in that confrontation between extremism, religiosity — all those things and everything that America represents.” (RELATED: ‘Yellowstone’ Star Forrie Smith Won’t Attend The SAG Awards Because Of The Vaccine Mandate, Says He’ll Never Get Vaccinated)

“And I thought, ‘I’m an American,'” Mirren also said. “I got an American flag, and I put it outside my window.”

 

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The SAG Life Achievement Award that the actress will receive Sunday at the annual awards show is the latest of the many accolades and achievements of Mirren’s career. Her accomplishments include an Oscar, multiple SAG Awards, a Tony Award and being made a Dame by the Queen of England in 2003, among others.

Mirren played Queen Elizabeth II in 2006 film “The Queen.” She will portray another prominent female political figure, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, in an upcoming biopic titled “Golda.”