Helen Mirren is a Dame action star.
The legendary Academy Award winner exclusively dished on reprising her badass role of Queenie in the Fast & Furious franchise with E! News’ Daily Pop co-host Justin Sylvester.
Even her husband Taylor Hackford was shocked that Mirren took on F9, premiering June 25. “He did a double take, ‘say what? Are you serious?'” Mirren laughed during the June 3 interview. “I’m so excited, it’s fantastic.”
F9 also marks the first time Mirren gets to be behind the wheel of a Fast & Furious car. “I got to drive, finally,” Mirren quipped. “I’ve done two movies, ‘Oh Fast & Furious, here comes the script. Oh I’m in jail. I won’t be driving. I can’t be driving in jail.’ And then this one arrived and yes, here I am in the getaway car, great, with Vin [Diesel]. Fabulous!”
Yet driving so fast and so furious came with its own set of difficulties—including just fitting into the luxury vehicle! “Both Vin and I had great difficulty getting in, and then even more difficulty trying to get out, especially Vin because he’s really big,” Mirren smiled. “It was very funny.”
It’s quite a love-fest between the co-stars. Diesel previously described working with Mirren on eighth film The Fate of the Furious a “magical” experience.
“No one else in the room mattered. Nothing existed but this bond between her and I,” Diesel told Indiewire in 2018. “It’s probably her which is why The Fate of the Furious was [one of] the fastest movies in history to hit a billion dollars.”
Jamie McCarthy/Getty ImagesWatch the sweet clip above to see Mirren gush about working on F9 and her plan to snap selfies next to her massive Sunset Boulevard billboard!